The Walking Deth
by deni269
Summary: This story started on AO3 as a one off smutfest. But as I got to writing, I realised how much I loved the pairing of Daryl and Beth. So I decided to give them a bit more of a story. TV show inspired storyline with comic style themes. Contains violence, sex, drug use, some very adult themes and language. Mature Audiences only. Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.
1. Burning Wishes

**AN: Hello to first time readers of my little (epic) story. I have had a few people get half way through this story and go 'whoa hang on a minute this is not what I was expecting', so let me give you forewarning now. I write this story as if it were to appear on HBO not AMC. So it is very adult and little controversial. It deals with a lot of harsh topics and its is not all rainbows and unicorns. I wanted to show how love can survive in a messed up world when any moment could be your last. **

**This is dark fic with angst (with some light-hearted stuff to break it up) and plenty of smut and lemons, but also with a storyline. So you can expect to be on a rollercoatser ride of emotions!**

**If you're looking for a purely sweet, fluffy romance, you've come to the wrong place!**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter I**

**Burning Wishes**

What was a journal for anyway? A place to keep your thoughts, wishes and dreams? The only thoughts I had were of my father's head, half removed from his body by the blade of the Katana, or of Luke's tiny shoe among a puddle of blood and bodily sludge. The only wish that I still had was to stay alive, and the only dreams I had were nightmares. The pages were still crisp and clean, waiting for words that would never be written. So what did it matter if I tore them out and tossed them to the fire?

And what a pitiful fire it was. Fed by twigs and dry leaves and unfulfilled wishes; It provided enough light so we could see our immediate surrounds when the moon slipped behind the clouds, but it did not provide any heat. It was getting cold now as the season changed from fall to winter, and as the night made its way to morning. I didn't have time to pack up a sweater when I left the prison, all I had were the clothes on my back, the bits and pieces in kept in my pockets, and the boots on my feet.

I rubbed along the gooseflesh on my arms trying to press the tiny bumps down, and turned my eyes to Daryl, who was staring into the flames seemingly oblivious to the cold. Daryl didn't feel anything. He didn't feel hunger, or pain, or loss, He just stomped through the woods with a constant dour expression on his face.

His steel blue eyes lifted and glared into mine as I glowered at him.

"I'mma get some rest." He grunted the words through barely moving lips, as he brushed away the leaves and bark, to make himself a dirt bed.

"How can you even sleep? After what we saw today…after what's happened."

"I'm fuckin' tired! Been runnin' 'round all day chasin' after shit yer never gon' find. Tryna catch hope for somethin' that ain't out there… Been tryna protect your dumbass e'ry time you stopped usin' yer damn head and walked straight into a mothafuckin' walkers hands, like you wanna make out with 'im or somethin'."

I scowled at him. It had only been two walkers I had walked into. Only two.

He shifted uncomfortably under my glare.

"Wake me up when the moon's real bright." He pointed to the full moon high above the tree canopy, and then went to his back placing his hands behind his head, and turning his elbows to the night sky.

I should just get up and leave him while he sleeps, let _him_ make out with the walkers…No. That was a terrible thought to have.

I would have liked to get out with Maggie. She would have held me and told me everything was going to be okay. Or Sasha. She would have at least spoken to me in full, intelligible sentences. Even Carl would have made for better company, when he wasn't throwing goofy eyes my way. Rick might have been able to keep me safe. But none of them would have kept me alive as well as Daryl had. He had already proven that twice today…or maybe three times, but who's counting?

I looked over the foul mouthed, asshole of a redneck; unbathed, unshaven, and wrapped in tattered clothing. His face looked peaceful slackened with sleep, and he was kind of cute when he wasn't scowling. His grime and sweat covered biceps, flexed by his ears, glistened in the moonlight. He wasn't friendly, and he wasn't gentle. He was hard, and rough and he was strong, and that was exactly what I needed right now.

"Thank you." I whispered in to the darkness.

"You say somethin'?" He grunted, as he opened his eyes and turned toward me.

"…No."

* * *

By the time the moon was at its brightest; The usually muggy air had become crisp and frozen. I had tried adding bark and dried leaves to the fire, in my attempt to make it bigger but it just seemed to shake and shrivel. Panicking about losing the flame, I started blowing at it frantically and fanning it with my hand.

"Don't you know how to build no fire?" Daryl sat up, groaned and stretched.

I drew my flailing hands back in to my body. "I was just about to wake you."

Daryl poked at the fire with a stick he had collected from his side.

"Shoulda woke me up 'fore you touched it. Nothin' but sparks now."

I pouted into the night feeling more useless than normal.

Daryl's shadowy eyes glanced up at me.

"Come over 'ere." He beckoned to me with a wave of his hand. I got to my knees and crawled over to his side of the fire.

"You got your tinder right? That holds the spark."

He pointed at the leaf and grass covered ground.

"You can use bark, dead grass, dead leaves anything dead…but no walkers…too large." His eyebrows raised and he smirked at me.

He reached across my waist and pulled out the knife I had strapped to my hip.

"If you rub along bark like this." He began running the knife up and down a piece of bark sharply, and a grainy, fibrous powder started tumbling to the earth. He put his forefinger in the powder and rubbed it on his thumb. "You get a powder that makes good tinder. It's what I used on 'ere…before you killed it." He pointed into the dying embers.

"Then you need some kindling." He grabbed a handful of twigs and started arranging them on the red embers of what used to be a fire. "Twigs, bits of wood, cardboard if you have it." He reached over for a piece of dead branch, and a sharp rock that was nearby. "If ya need to break up a chunk of wood, an' you have no knife or tools, you can hold it like this." He put the piece of wood between his boots. "And you hit it hard on top until it starts to spilt." He demonstrated it for me and then tore the branch in two when a crack had formed.

"Then you need your fuel. Bulky pieces of wood, dry grass, dried shit if you can get it and don' mind touchin' it. Good for farmin' good for fire." He tossed some larger pieces of wood onto the fire that was already licking hungrily at the kindling.

"You got that?" He glanced up at me and I nodded in reply.

"If you ain't got no lighter, you can use that trick they show ya on TV, with the glass and the sun. That shit is real they don't make it up. You just gotta focus the light into the tinder." He pointed to his pile of bark powder. "Then you blow on it, just a little, not too much." he reached out and pulled my hand towards his face, he turned my wrist so my palm was upwards and gently blew on to it.

'Like this."

A curious shiver ran up my spine.

"What if there is no sun?" I said as I quickly withdrew my hand and glanced up to the bright full moon.

"You'll have to hand drill it. That's hard as fuck. 'specially if you got soft girl hands. Best hope I'm there to help you out…" He sniggered playfully while showing me the rough callouses in his hands. "Or you best be makin' you're fire 'fore it gets dark."

I nodded again.

"You know how to build a fire pit?"

I stared at him blankly.

"Nah 'course ya don't."

Daryl began scooping his hands into the dirt by his feet until he had made a foot wide circular ditch. He pointed into the ditch.

"You build your fire in there." He moved a foot away from the ditch and started working his hand down in to the ground, scooping out piles of dirt, puffing and panting and flexing his arm, until it was underground and his hand was poking through the original hole he had dug. "This hole 'ere gets the air to your fire. Fire needs air to breathe." He looked up at me and raised his eyebrow to me like I was a simpleton.

"I know that." I really did.

"This larger hole will protect yer fire from the wind." He pointed to his original ditch. "Also makes less smoke and less light. Handy if you're tryna stay hidden or some shit."

I nodded again, wondering who we would have to hide from next.

Daryl dusted of the dirt from his hands and then scooted over to the side revealing the soft patch of dirt that followed the shape of his body.

"You get some shut eye now ya hear?"

Sitting alone in the darkness had been more exhausting than I had thought. My eyes felt heavy and my body felt weak. I probably could sleep if I tried really hard.

I shifted into the groove he had left behind and lay down in it, curling into a ball. The fire was burning stronger now but the air moving through the trees was still cold. I tucked my hands between my thighs trying to keep them warm and then pressed my eyes closed. I knew my trembling body would prevent me from ever getting any sleep and I huffed impatiently.

"What's a matter?" Daryl asked.

"It's darn cold out here." I mumbled though chattering teeth.

"Move closer to the fire then."

I raised my head and looked to my blood encrusted boots that were showered in orange light.

"If I get any closer I'm gonna set myself alight."

Daryl grumbled in agreement.

I twitched with discomfort as I thought about asking him for something that would be awkward for the both of us.

"Do you think you could…maybe…sit closer…to me?"

He sighed heavily and then I heard a shifting of leaves as he moved in closer to me so his hip was pressed against my curled back.

"That okay?"

His hip was warm, but it wasn't doing me much good pressed against such a small part of my back. I rolled over in the ditch and curved myself around his legs.

"This okay?" I asked glancing up at him.

He nodded. "Yeah."

I wrapped an arm around his waist.

"How about this?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Guess so."

I closed my eyes and nuzzled into the leather pressed against his firm, strong back. I squeezed my arm around his lean and tight abdomen. I inhaled his comforting smell of dirt, and sweat and man. The heat from his body radiated through my hands, up my arms and over my shoulders and swirled around in my belly. But the hottest fire pulsated, throbbed and burned between my legs.

* * *

I woke to Daryl kicking my boot with the gentleness and affection only Daryl Dixon could show.

"You wanna eat or not." He growled while shoving a portion of charred meat in to my face.

I sat up and reluctantly took it off him and picked at it, while I glared at his stupid, sexy, sullen face.

"You left me to hunt?" I asked.

"Nah, dumb fucker ran straight in front o' me."

I chewed on the dry overcooked squirrel meet, thinking about how lucky I was to be stuck with the hunter of the group.

I had barely finished the last mouthful when he stomped past me and flicked his hand into the air beckoning me to follow.

I pouted at his grumpy disposition and then pulled myself to my feet. I picked out the leaves and twigs that were tangled through my hair, and tossed them towards the extinguished fire, wondering if it would be enough to re-ignite it.

I followed Daryl through the trees stepping over the carcasses of two walkers that were only a few yards away from where I slept.

"Shit. Did you kill them last night?" I asked staring down on them.

"Yep." He replied bluntly.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked.

"I took care of it." He snapped. I screwed up my face and flipped the bird at the white wings on the back of his vest. Damn grump he was in the morning.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to me.

"…you looked too peaceful to wake." he added, in a much softer tone. And I felt guilty about the bird.

I followed Daryl through the bushes and trees, moving as he moved, stopping when he stopped and crouching to examine the earth when he did.

"You followin' the tracks of the others?" I asked after about an hour of trudging through the trees.

"Nuh. Our next meal." He said bluntly. "But if you don' keep your darn mouth shut, we won't be havin' anythin'."

I let him walk ahead a few paces and flipped the bird to his back again. He snapped his head around and I stuck my hand behind my back, and looked up to the clouds in the sky innocently.

Whatever Daryl was tracking it lead us towards a creek bed swollen with water that lapped against the sun baking shale rocks.

Daryl went over and started filling up his water bottle and drank from it.

"Aren't you gonna boil that first?" I asked.

"With what Martha Stewart? You hidin' a pot in your panties?" He took another swig of the dirty water.

"If you get dysentery, don't blame me." I sniped as I walked down to the creek to wash my hands and face.

"You die of dehydration, don't blame me." He retorted.

"You are such an ass." I grumbled over my shoulder.

"Yep, but I ain't thirsty."

I screwed up my face as I looked away from him and down to my boots. They were still covered in the blood of the children I had taken care of for months. I slipped them off and began scrubbing them, using my fingers, in the water.

"That's a waste o' time, only gonna get dirty again." Daryl said standing over me and looking at my wet hands rubbing over my boots.

I looked him over. It was obviously his attitude to washing in general. He was always a complete mess. I doubted if he had even showered once when we were back at the prison.

"Not all of us like to wallow in our own fifth." I snapped up at him.

Daryl shrugged and stepped away from me and paced along the bank of the creek, looking at the rocks and creek-weeds that were tossed about by the movement of the water.

I pulled my socks off, and then shimmied my jeans down my hips.

"What the fuck are you doin' now?" Daryl said glaring over his shoulder at me.

"I'm bathing, you should try it some time."

"That fuckin' waters gonna be colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra in January, I can tell you that right now. You'll freeze your own mothafuckin' tits off."

I blushed a little at the mention of my breasts. "I don't care. We've been runnin' for days. I'm covered in sweat and blood, and god knows what else." I collected another pile of leaves from my hair. "A bit of cold water might do us good. Might do us both good."

I slipped my tank off, and tossed it to the dirt at my feet.

Daryl averted his eyes as I stood there in my bra and panties. I didn't even care what he saw. He had already stood mere yards away from me while I went to the bathroom, there was no modesty between us anymore.

I edged my way in to the water biting back my gasps and yelps as Daryl was proven right. I ducked my shoulders down into the water and started rubbing at my body trying to be as quick as possible before my tits did actually freeze off.

Daryl could see how cold I was and he sat down on the flat rocks watching me with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

I flipped the bird in his direction under the water, and then froze still as something long dark and slimy gripped on to my thigh.


	2. Water Walkers

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter II**

**Water Walkers**

Beth suddenly started shrieking and thrashing through the water sending out a foam of white around her. I stood up, swung my Stryker off my shoulder and aimed it into the water by her feet, trying to peer through the white wash to see what had grabbed her. I couldn't see shit all with all the waves she was making so I tossed my Stryker to the bank, grabbed my Busse and bounded into the water, boots and all. It was a risky move; the whole creek bed could have been swarming with underwater walkers, but I wasn't losing her, she was all I had left, there was no point carrying on without her.

Beth kicked her legs through the water as she moved towards me, and then passed me heading for the bank, as she squealed and wailed and threw her hands wildly in the air. I looked back to the spot where she had started screaming and waited for something to emerge and follow her, but nothing did. Now that her thrashing wasn't ruining the view, I could see through the clear rippling water, and there was nothing but sand, school-fish and weeds.

"What the fuck, Greene?"

I wading through the water, sloshing my heavy boots that had sunk down into the bed like it was quick sand. I slopped them onto the bank and over to her wet and flailing body, wondering what all the fuss was about. I looked to the place she was grabbing at on her thigh to see it was nothing but a fat black leech. One fucking leech, and she screams loud enough to call every walker in ten miles.

"It's just a fuckin' leech. Ain't you a country girl? You tellin' me you ain't seen 'em before?"

Her fingers flipped and flopped frantically over it as she tried to grip it.

"Nooo! I swam in the dam, and there were no leeches, and I…I can't get it off." She shrieked.

"Keep it down." I urged. "You gotta get your nail, under the sucker."

"I can't. It's all slimy and my hands are all numb and cold." She wailed.

"Shit, girl."

I pushed her down on to the ground, parted her thighs and dove in pushing one hand against her skin and slipping the dirty and cracked nail of the other hand under the head of the leech. I pulled the leech between my thumb and forefinger and twisted its head back, then flung it to the ground letting it pop in a small puddle of blood. I looked back to Beth sitting on the ground with a line of watered-down blood trickling from the bite down her leg and towards her…fuck. I could see everything! Her panties were see-through and they pressed up against every curve and line and…bump…of her peaches and cream skin. I could even make out the golden hair that curled there.

I ripped my eyes away and clamoured backward, then rolled to my front hoping to hide what was moving around in my pants.

"That was gross." Beth whimpered.

"Yeah…gross." I agreed.

_Dead Walkers. Dead Walkers. Dead Walkers._

Fuck. I couldn't think of walkers, all I could think of was Beth's wet…fuck! It was hard as stone now. I needed to ice it quick smart. I kicked off my sodden boots, tore out my belt, ripped off my vest, and started unbuttoning my shirt.

"Might take that bath after all."

Beth averted her eyes and turned her back to me, as I dumped my everything to the ground and made my way into the water. I left my jeans on, seeing as they were already soaked, and I didn't want her seeing my raging boner. Beth kept her back to me anyway, which was cool, as it meant she wouldn't see all my scars and start asking questions.

"Watch out for leeches." She called over her shoulder.

I scrubbed myself under the water, loosening my pants and forcing my hand down to give my balls a much needed clean. I gave my cock a squeeze to help it go down, before I made my way back to the bank. Beth was still sitting with her back to me, shivering in the shade of a tree.

I picked up my wet boots and gear and walked over to the shale rocks that ran along the deeper part of the creek, and dropped myself down, watching as the water leaked out of my pants and ran along my feet and down the rock returning to the creek.

"Sit over 'ere you'll dry faster than a cat can lick its ass." I called to the trembling Beth sitting by the tree.

Beth looked over her shoulder to me, nodded her head and then followed me over to the rocks and dropped down beside me. Still only wearing her transparent underwear. That was a dumb as fuck idea, telling her to get closer to me.

"Oh wow, it's so warm." She lay on her back and covered her eyes from the glare of the sun with her forearms.

"This is real nice ain't it, laying in the sun, all clean and stuff?" She mumbled, with a pleased smile on her face.

I looked over her pale skin, beaded with droplets of creek water, and glistening in the sunlight. All I knew was that if her hard, pink nipples poking through the wet cotton on her bra didn't soften soon, I was gonna need another dip in the creek.

* * *

I must have dozed off while lying on those rocks, drying off, as the sun had now disappeared from the sky. It was a stupid thing to do, fall asleep like that, but I had only had a few hours' sleep the night before, and none at all the night before that. I had been woken by the leaves shifting and branches and twigs cracking. I sat up to see a dozen or so walkers pouring out from the tree growth and towards us.

Beth's mother fucking squeals over that damn leech had drawn a shit tonne of them to us.

"Get your shit!" I called to Beth as I shook her awake.

Beth rolled to her feet and then rushed over to her clothes and started frantically pulling them on. I pulled my boots on and slipped on my shirt and vest, not bothering to button up and then picked up my Stryker and got a shot off on a walker that was getting dangerously close to Beth. She packed up her notebook and all the other bits and pieces she carried around, and raced to my side.

"Oh dear lord!" She gasped as she looked over the few dozen walkers that were now swarming towards us. "How are we gonna…"

I pushed her in her back to get her to start moving ahead.

"Just don't look back."

We dodged and weaved through the trees and bushes, with the herd of walkers on our tail. We had managed to get a lead on them, but we had been running for a while and Beth's pace was beginning to slow. We would need to stop soon, before she collapsed and became walker feed.

We managed to break through the dense tree growth to find ourselves on a road covered in tossed dead leaves and twigs, with a wrecking car directly in front of us.

Beth made for the driver's side and checked the ignition while I kept my Stryker cocked and ready. The engine didn't turn over as I had expected, and the piece of shit had the driver's door half broken off, so I popped the trunk and motioned for Beth to hop in, and I climbed in after her.

The trunk definitely wasn't made for two bodies and a crossbow so it was pretty tight in there. Beth's little legs were pressed against mine and trembling either from exhaustion or fear. I pulled the top down and wrapped the cloth around the latch of the lock to keep it down. Then I raised my Stryker and aimed it towards the half inch opening in case a walker somehow managed to knock it open.

I could hear the growls and snarls of just a few walkers at first, but then the snarls grew in to a roar. From what I could see in the moonlight the whole road was covered in dead walking bodies, like bees on a hive. They pushed against the car as they passed, tossing Beth and I around like rag dolls. If the top didn't hold, we were walker meat for sure. Beth gripped my Busse to her chest with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut, her lips moving in silent prayer. I knew now that her trembles were from fear more than anything else.

The herd seemed to continue on forever, and they were still swarming late in the night. Now, mixed in with the roar of walkers, was the roar of thunder, and flashes of lightning lit up the trunk sporadically.

Beth was crying now, her whole body shaking in a rhythm with the rocking trunk. I wanted to comfort her in some way, tell her it was going to be okay, but I couldn't drop out of attack mode. And I really didn't know how to make a girl feel better, so I just kept staring out into the night.

When the herd had thinned out and the growls and snarls had started to settle. Beth's breathing started to regulate, and her trembles started to still. From the corner of my eye I could see her big blues scanning over my bow and then to my arms, to my shoulders and resting on my face. Her lips turned into a smile and I glanced in her direction wondering what she was smiling about. The smile fell from her face and she pulled her eyes away from mine and stared down at my Busse on her chest.

A few moments after that, she glanced back up at me with questioning eyes. I guessed she wanted to open the trunk, it was getting quite stuffy and cramped, but there was still the odd walker out there, so I held up a finger and told her to wait, and she nodded, accepting my decision.

Beth gave a yawn and then glanced at me again asking for my approval, and I nodded to her, telling her to go ahead and sleep. She shifted her shoulders into the fabric lining of the trunk and then pressed her eyes shut, and her breathes became long and deep and I could tell she had dozed off.

I kept watch until the sun had risen and it started to swelter inside the metal trunk. Sweat was collecting on my brow and dripping down in to my eyes, but I didn't move my hands from my Stryker, I didn't think I could, I had been holding so still my arms had grown stiff.

I looked over Beth's sweat covered body and noted the way the fabric of her tank clung to her skin, shaping around her small firm breasts, and I could feel another part of my body getting stiff too.

I coughed a little trying to shake away my less than wholesome thoughts of the mechanics of fucking in a trunk, and then Beth's eyes flickered open and caught me staring at her. I turned back to the empty day lit road, but still watched her from the corner of my eye. What was she? sixteen - seventeen? Hershel would have my balls if he were here and knew my thoughts. She was like a sweet Georgia peach, dangling from the tree of forbidden fruit. Forget all the other dumb shit I had done in my life, my thoughts were sending me straight to hell.

Beth wiped the sweat from her brow and then wriggled herself forward and unwrapped the rag. The top creaked open letting in sunlight and fresh air, and I forced my stiff arms to drop my Stryker and stretch out.

Beth climbed out first, crawling over me, and turning her backside into my face. I let my eyes linger on it for a bit, before my dick started to stir again, and I thought I best get out and start moving around before I got…stiff…again.

I searched around the wreckage of the car looking for anything we could use to set up a camp. Beth sifted through some of the broken car parts and collected a mirror and a piece of glass.

"That to do your face up?" I sniped.

She scoffed. "No. It's to build a fire."

So she had remembered my fire making lesson after all.


	3. Proof

**AN: This is pretty much the first part of the old chapter one with a few things fixed up. **

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter III**

**Proof**

It had been about an hour or two after dusk when he had pulled open the trunk and motioned for me to hop in. I wondered how we would both fit in there comfortably, but we didn't have time to argue, the herd that had followed from the creek was only moments away.

The first couple of hours of the night were terrifying. The growls and snarls from the walkers were deafening. I had held all the muscles of my body tight with an anxious tension that left me achy. I had been gripping on to Daryl's knife until my knuckles turned blue, and I had lost all feeling in my fingers. My breath, when I remembered to breathe, was ragged and laborious. I kept envisioning a walker knocking the trunk open and they would all swarm in to devour Daryl and I. It was not a nice thought. That whole time Daryl kept himself cool, calm and collected, watching through the small opening, ready and waiting for whatever may come.

When the herd of walkers sounded like it was thinning out I had allowed myself to relax a little more. The moonlight was seeping through the gap of the trunk opening, only about half an inch, and it was casting a narrow line of light over Daryl's cool blue, stern eyes that were still peering outside. His legs were pressed up against mine, providing me with a somewhat familiar and comforting warmth, and another feeling similar to what I had felt when his hands were all over my thigh, that I wasn't sure I should be having.

I was struggling to stay awake by that point. I didn't know how Daryl was so alert, eyes unblinking, finger resting unmoving on the trigger of his crossbow, like a sentinel on watch. He was like my own personal guardian, and I knew if he wasn't here then I wouldn't have survived. He fed me and protected me even though he didn't have to. I knew that it would be hard for him, dragging around some kid. A kid who didn't know how to build a fire, or who screamed at the sight of leeches, who knew nothing much but how to farm and sing and how to take care of a baby. None of which were skills that we had need of now. Yet here he was again sacrificing himself for me, playing guard while I struggled to keep my eyes open.

I felt the smile grow on my face as the thoughts of him ran through my head. Daryl Dixon my rough, tough, rugged and muscled protector. For the first time since we had climbed in, his eyes slid away from the light and studied my face with a mild curiosity. Probably wondering what I found so amusing in this life threatening situation. His eyes only lingered on mine for a few seconds but they had already sent a jolt of the exhilarating feeling of wanting and desire.

I had dozed off some time after that, with curious thoughts of him on my mind. I wondered what it would feel like to have my whole body pressed against his as our legs were pressed together now. What would it feel like to have his hot breath across my neck or his rough hands on my waist? What would if feel like to have a grown man inside me? When I woke, from my unexpectedly pleasant dreams, I found Daryl was still staring outside. I didn't think he had slept at all, if he had, I hadn't seen it. The sun had come up now and it was starting to swelter inside the metal box. I wiped the sweat that had begun to drip from my brow, and noted the sweat that was beading on Daryl's forehead and streaming in rivulets down his cheeks and catching in his hair. I hadn't heard any walkers for some time now, and from what I could see out in the daylight there were none around, so I unwrapped the cloth holding the top down and climbed out, with Daryl squinting at the daylight, right behind me.

We scavenged around the wreckage of the car looking for anything we could use to make camp. I collected a mirror and a piece of glass I could use to make a fire, the way Daryl had taught me, and Daryl collected other bits and pieces he thought were useful. When we were done scavenging, we moved onwards through the trees so we could find a place to make camp and think about having some breakfast.

* * *

While Daryl went off hunting squirrel, I made a fire using the tips he had given me. I wondered if he would be impressed with what I had learnt. If he was, he probably wouldn't say anything.

I was somewhat amused when I caught Daryl pulling the skin of that snake. Amused and a little grossed out.

"What is that?" I had asked, scared of what his answer was going to be.

"Breakfast." He had replied matter of factly, like snake meat was the most commonly eaten food in the world.

I screwed up my nose in disgust, yet my stomach still grumbled with the pang of hunger, I had learnt not to be fussy over the last couple of years.

Daryl sat in his usual way, as far away from me as possible. I guess that was his thing, keeping people away, both physically and emotionally. Any time he was forced to be close to me or touch me, he groaned and grunted and recoiled away, like you normally would the snake I had just eaten.

I watched him and wondered what he might think of me. Judging by present body language he still saw me as some annoying sixteen year old that he and his group were forced to live with for survival. I wasn't worth getting to know. I wasn't important, I didn't fight, I didn't hunt, I couldn't track. I was just some tag along kid that he could do just fine without. Only problem was I wasn't a kid anymore, I was eighteen now, an adult in many respects, an adult just like him, and I only wished he could see me that way.

I didn't know how I was going to make him see me as an adult, there wasn't much I could do to prove I was an equal to him. Adults took care of themselves, and clearly I wasn't very good at that. They had jobs, but my only job had been to take care of the children. Adults drank alcohol, but that was something we were fresh out of. Although…

"I need a drink." I stated flatly. The words had slipped from my mouth before I was able to give them much thought.

Without even looking at me Daryl grabbed the dirty, green bottle of creek water and flung it over towards me.

I tossed it to the side.

"No I mean a real drink - as in alcohol." I elaborated.

He didn't respond. That was typical Daryl. Either silence or inappropriate smart ass remarks. He just sat there tearing into the snake meat. I couldn't even tell if he was listening to me.

"I've never had one…'cause of my dad…but he's not, exactly, around anymore so…" I dropped my eyes as I thought about daddy, and his words of advice I would never hear again. Daryl continued to ignore me.

"I thought we could go find some." I waited for the response, I was never going to get. "…okay, well enjoy your snake jerky." I stood up, walked over and pulled his knife from its spot in the fallen tree branch, and marched off into the trees.

I trudges through the woods, stepping over logs, and stumps and low bushes, wondering if he was going to follow me. I stopped and looked back to the camp to see he was still sitting there tearing at his snake.

"Jerk." I muttered to the trees.

I continued on alone working my way through the trees until I spotted four walkers. I could probably avoid them easily, but I still had that nervous feeling in my stomach, and I still kinda wished I had Daryl to back me up. I managed to distract them with a rock and the four of them stumbled off in the other direction. I heard a twig snap behind me and turned to find that Daryl had decided to follow me after all. As angry as I had been at him before for ignoring me, I was glad he was here with me. I followed him gratefully as he led the way.

The grateful feeling dissipated when my legs tangled in Daryl's trap and I realised he was leading me back to the crappy little camp we had made.

"I'm not staying in this suck-ass camp!" I flipped him the bird and turned away.

He gripped my hand firmly in his rough, hot hands and I pulled out of his grip.

"Hey! You had your fun." He growled.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you feel anythin'?"

Daryl glared at me angrily.

"Yeah you think everythin' is screwed, I guess that's a feelin'. So you wanna spend the rest of our lives starin' into a fire and eatin' mud snakes? Screw that! We might as well do somethin'." Daryl's eyes softened a little and I wondered what he would think about the 'somethin' I really wanted to do.

"I can take care of myself and I'm going to get a damn drink." I turned around and stomped off in the direction I had come from.

A few moments later I heard the familiar and comforting sound of his boots crunching the leaves behind me.

"You even twenty-one?" He growled from behind me.

"I'm eighteen. But I don't think anyone's gonna be hangin' 'round askin' to see ID."

I heard him snort with amusement behind me. "Guess not."

* * *

We came to a huge open field that I guessed used to be a golf course, but the grass was so overgrown now, it wouldn't be recognisable as one. Across the field I could see a run-down country club.

"Golfers like to booze it up right?" I asked turning to Daryl. He just glared at the group of walkers stumbling towards us. So I continued on ahead.

When we first got inside I had heard the snarls of walkers and we had prepared ourselves for an onslaught, but the sound had come from walkers who had tried hanging themselves. They were no threat, but I didn't like to leave them hanging there like that.

"We should finish them." I had suggested.

"What for?" Daryl said bluntly while he poked around the room, searching for supplies.

"We can't just leave them hanging there."

"Why not?"

I stepped towards them and tried to think how I was going to do it, they were quite high up, and if I got any closer they would be able to get a hold of me.

"You can shoot 'em. With your arrows." I pointed at his crossbow.

"I ain't gonna waste no arrows on 'em." He pointed up at the hanging, moving corpses. "Too much fuckin' 'round to get 'em back."

"So we're just gonna leave em?"

"Yeah."

Did I really expect anything else from Daryl Dixon? He was great at protecting humans, but he seemed to care little for humanity.

There were other bodies there, all in varying states of decay. No more walkers though, so they must have all had a more successful attempt at suicide than our hanging friends. I searched for anything of use finding a souvenir spoon from Washington and a small knife and putting them in my pockets. Daryl was rummaging around stuffing jewellery and valuables into a bag. What he wanted to do with that, I had no idea. Money and riches were a thing of the past. Now you were rich if you were living.

The snarling of more walkers outside prompted us to pick up the pace and delve deeper into the country club.

There wasn't much to see. People had obviously tried to hold out in there as long as possible and the place smelt of festering bodies, and stale air. The place was a mess, filled with bags of trash, rotting food, and dozens of disappointingly empty bottles. I did find a bottle of what I assumed was red wine but before I even got to open it and smell what was inside a walker had sprung out and I had to use the bottle to defend myself, breaking it over the walkers skull, and forcing the jagged edges of glass into its face. After a struggle I finished it off with the knife I had found earlier. I turned to find Daryl had been watching me struggle with it.

"Thanks for the help."

"You said you could take care o' yourself, you did."

He walked off, and I questioned myself on why I even still found that asshole attractive.

After some more searching around we came across the pro shop. It was filled with racks of dorky old golfer clothes but there was a cute yellow tee that caught my attention. It had been weeks since I had changed my clothes and even longer since I had worn anything this nice.

I grabbed a tee and a knitted white cardigan to go with it. I took them behind a dressing screen, but there were boxes and piles of clothing in the way so I couldn't get completely behind there. It was no matter, Daryl had already seen just about everything during the time we spent in the woods. Daryl seemed pretty pre-occupied with the til, but I sensed eyes on me when I had taken off my old sweaty and stained tank. I turned around and caught a glimpse of Daryl peering at me in my topless state. He took his eyes off me the second I looked at them, and I felt the heat creep into my cheeks along with a satisfied smirk.

The fresh clothes didn't last for long. A group of walkers had chased us into the locker room, and Daryl had decided to finish one off with a golf club. I had been standing in prime position and the finishing blow had sent walker brains all over my new outfit. I took off the cardigan and left it on the floor. There was no room for wearing white in this world anymore anyway.

We finally made it to the bar and I searched through the dozens of glass bottles trying to find anything drinkable. I found a mostly empty bottle of peach schnapps. It sounded nice, but Daryl reckons it wasn't. I searched around for a clean glass while Daryl did his usual thing. Ignored me. He was playing darts throwing them at portraits on the wall, he hadn't even spared me a glance since we had got in the room.

I looked into the bottle of my journeys intention, and thought about how much this was not like how I wanted it to be. My first drink might have been with my friends down at the creek. Maybe even Maggie would have let me have my first drink with her. It would have been with someone I cared about and who cared about me, but now there was just me and Daryl. Daryl who seemed like he hated me, who thought I was just some unshakable pain in the ass.

I was feeling lost and alone. Daryl had been good company, as far as keeping me alive, but I missed being actually cared about. I missed Maggie and Judith and I especially missed my dad. I started sobbing while I rubbed me hands over the bottle, wishing for things I would never have.

My thoughts were interrupted by a dirty hand reaching in front of me and grabbing the bottle. Daryl stalked away holding the bottle of schnapps and angrily threw it to the ground destroying it and its contents.

He waved his hand angrily towards the smashed bottle.

"Ain't gonna have your first drink be no damn peach schnapps."

* * *

Daryl had led me to a dump of a cabin come moonshine still. The cabin looked like it had been a dump even before the turn. It was filthy and smelt like old gym socks, and it was riddled with rubbish and junk. Daryl scouted the place out while I put the crate down inside on the small camp table. He found a glass for me and blew out the dust and then opened one of the jars and poured the contents in to the glass.

"That's a real first drink right there." he said, nodding to the glass that now held moonshine.

I was a little hesitant. I had heard a lot about moonshine. That it was highly flammable and lethal in high doses.

"Whatsa matter?" Daryl asked while I stared at the glass.

"Nothin'…It's just…my dad always said bad moonshine can make you blind."

"Nothin' worth seein' out there anymore anyway."

That was true. And it _was_ alcohol and that was what I wanted. I couldn't chicken out now and prove to Daryl that deep down I was still just a child. So I took a swig.

It was awful. I don't think I had ever tasted anything so awful. It burnt my nose and my throat and made my eyes water and it took all my stubborn determination not to spit it straight back out. Come on Beth this is what you need to do to prove yourself, just drink it. The second swig wasn't so bad, I had probably burnt all my tastebuds away.

I grabbed the jar and started pouring another drink.

"Whoa slow down."

"This one's for you." I beamed up at Daryl.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Why?"

"Someone's gotta keep watch."

What was the point of that? Me sitting here getting drunk by myself while he just watched. I was hoping maybe if we drank together it would bring us closer, that was what alcohol did right? I was really getting sick of this open space between us that he didn't seem to want to cross, and all my efforts to bring us closer together were just being ignored or brushed away.

"So what you're like my chaperone now?" Seemingly pointing out the fact that he was _so_ much older than me.

"Just drink lots of water." He suggested. I wasn't even sure if he was playing.

I was still just a kid to him.

"Yes, Mr Dixon." I replied sardonically.

Daryl secured the cabin ready for the night, boarding up the windows and preparing an escape route. I was enjoying the feeling of warmth that was creeping through my body and the buzzing feeling in my head. It also seemed to call more attention to the deeper, tight clenching sensation that burned between my legs every time I looked over at Daryl, as I watched his muscles flex, nailed boards into the wall.

I tried to shake the feeling and turned my attention to the wacky and crazy knick knacks that littered the cabin. I wondered what kind of people had lived here.

"My dad, that's who."

I lowered my eyes, hoping I hadn't offended him.

"He's a dumbass. He'd set those things up on top of the TV set and use them as target practice"

"He shot things inside your house?" What kind of dumbass had raised this man in front of me?

Daryl gave me a description of the purpose of some of the junk in the room. It had no purpose really, just stuff to break and shoot at. Daryl and I really did come from completely different worlds. Maybe that why it was so hard for us to get close to each other.

A walker had found its way to the outside of the cabin and was snarling outside. We agreed that we would leave it be for now, which left us pretty much trapped inside for the time being. That was enough to convince Daryl to have a drink with me, since there was nothing else he could do really. We raised our glasses, and I wondered what a drunk Daryl would be like.


	4. I've never drunk Moonshine

**AN: I really have never drunk moonshine, or been to Georgia, or been to the USA. Can you tell?**

***Warning* Contains Sexual content.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter IV  
**

**I've never drunk moonshine.**

"So first I say something I've never done, and if you have done it you drink, and if you haven't I drink - then we switch"

I couldn't believe he had never played this game. It seemed like every one of drinking age knew how to play it.

I started off with an easy one.

"I've never shot a crossbow. So now you drink."

Daryl reached for his jar.

"Ain't much of a game."

"That was a warm up. Now you go."

He groaned and chewed on the side of his finger as he thought.

"I've never been outside of Georgia."

"Really? Okay good one."

I took another swig.

"I've never been drunk and did something I regretted."

Daryl took a big swig.

"I've done alotta things." he said with a quirk of his brow.

"Your turn."

"I've never…braided my hair."

He was getting good at this game. More rounds like that one and I wouldn't be able to walk.

"I've never had sex." I said it so bluntly, I even shocked myself. I couldn't help it, watching him rub against the hair on his chin in a curiously sexy way, it popped into my mind and just slipped out my mouth.

I watched him carefully for his re-action. His eyes quickly left my gaze and he took the jar straight to his lips. He tipped it back and took in a large gulp, then another, then another. I wondered what this display was all about. Was he insinuating he was very experienced in that department, or had my statement made him uncomfortable?

I thought he was going to empty the jar. But he put it down, with about a half inch left in the bottom, and then tentatively looked back at my face.

"Never?"

I shook my head.

"Not with Jimmy? Or with Zach?"

I was surprised he even remembered their names. Hearing them again brought a lump to my throat. I washed it away with a quick swig of the moonshine and swallowed hard.

"With Jimmy we never did, because of my dad. Jimmy respected him. And I did too. Plus I was too young _then_." I flicked my eyes up to his wondering if he got the hint.

"And with Zach - well we did fool around a bit." I could feel myself blushing with the thought of doing night watch together at the prison. The kissing, and touching and rubbing. I had moved pretty fast with Zach, just because I wanted to feel that kind of connection with someone, and I knew our time could be short together. Zach had wanted to do more.

"We never really could, you know. 'Cause Dad and Maggie were always around, and even though we had our own cells, we were still in a room with a dozen other people."

Daryl gave a nod. He had chosen to sleep in a cell away from everyone else. He didn't really like being close to people.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an hour but it was probably closer to a few seconds. Daryl was chewing on his finger, and darting his eyes all over the room nervously.

"It's your turn." I finally piped up, trying to break the tension.

Daryl began rubbing the hair on his chin between his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully.

"I've never been on vacation."

"Wait - what about camping?"

Daryl shook his head. "Nah. That's just somethin' I had to learn - to hunt."

"Your dad teach you?

Daryl lowered his eyes and groaned thoughtfully. I couldn't tell if that was a yes or a no.

"Okay." I said bringing the glass of moonshine to my lips and having another drink. I had to think of another question now. A good one.

"I've never been in jail." I said, watching Daryl's eyes. His hands that were fidgeting by his face stopped as he glared back at me. "I mean as a prisoner." I added. Of course I had been in jail, I had only just left one.

I waited for his answer. All I got was a cold stare. Perhaps that was the wrong question to ask?

"Is that what you think of me?" He finally grunted.

_You better back track quick smart, Beth._

"I didn't mean anythin' serious, I just thought you know, like the drunk tank. Even my dad got locked up with that - back in the day."

Daryl flicked his finger angrily to my glass.

"Drink up." He demanded.

I couldn't believe that. I had heard all about what him and Merle got up to, there was no way he hadn't spent time in prison. Unless he never got caught, or knew the right people.

"Wait -Prison guard. Were you a prison guard…before?" Zach had a theory he was involved with law enforcement. I guess that would help keep him out of jail, despite having a brother like Merle.

He was silent for a while, watching me with cold eyes. I didn't know what was taking him so long to reply, it's not like he wouldn't be able to remember.

He finally shook his head and answered. "No."

His glare was making me uncomfortable now.

"It's your turn again" I said trying to shift some of the discomfort.

He stood up and stalked over towards the kitchen area. "I gotta take a piss." He informed me aggressively.

And there he went, over to the corner of the cabin ready to do his business…inside. It was beyond awkward. I tried to avert my eyes, although I had seen it before out in the woods, I was still mildly curious. It must have been the moonshine messing with me, being curious of a man going to the toilet. My curious thoughts were soon broken by the shattering jar Daryl had dropped on the floor deliberately. He was really drunk. And now I was in a world of trouble.

"You have to be quiet!" I urged.

"Can't hear you, I'm takin' a piss." he yelled.

"Daryl, don't talk so loud." I whispered, trying to encourage him to keep it down.

"What are you my chaperone now?" He yelled over his shoulder while the contents of his bladder emptied on to the already filthy floor.

I looked back to my glass and waited for him to finish. He zipped up and swaggered back over to me.

"Oh wait. It's my turn right? I never ahh." he looked down on me. "I've never eaten frozen yogurt… I've never had a pet pony…I've never Got nothin' from Santa clause."

He shoved the nearby chair angrily, so that it rocked back and grinded on the floor.

"Never relied on anyone for protection before."

I lowered my eyes knowing he was directing that remark at me.

"Hell, I've never relied on anyone for anythin'." He stalked over to my angrily throwing his arm in the air.

"Daryl…"

"Never sung out in front of a big group in public, like everythin' was fun, like it was some big game…I sure as hell never cut my wrists looking for attention!"

My shoulders heaved as I tried to find the courage to stand up and slap him in his loud mouth, drunken, obnoxious face.

Before I could do anything I heard the growls of walkers at the back door.

"Sounds like our friend decided to call some of his buddies."

"Daryl shut up!"

"Hey you never shot a crossbow before?" he pointed at me. "I'm gonna teach you right now. C'mon"

He grabbed me by my wrist and dragged me to the front door.

Once outside he shot the walker that had been lingering around, through the shoulder, pinning him to a nearby tree. He tried to force the crossbow into my arms before taking another shot at it himself. I had to put a stop to this mad drunken rage. I stepped forward and ended the walker with a knife blow to the head.

"What the hell you do that for? I was havin' fun."

"No you were being a jack-ass." I shrieked. "If anyone found my dad…"

"Don't! That ain't even remotely the same."

"Killing them is not supposed to be fun."

"What do you want from me girl, huh?"

"I want you to stop acting like you don't give a crap about anythin' like nothin' we went through matters…Like none of the people we lost meant anythin' to you…It's bullshit!"

"Is that what you think?"

"That's what I know."

"You don't know nothin'."

"I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl…I'm not Michonne, I'm not Carol I'm not Maggie…I survived and you don't get it 'cause I'm not like you or them, but I made it. And you don't get to treat me like crap just because your…afraid!"

"I ain't afraid of nothin'."

"I remember. When that little girl came out of the barn , after my mom. You were like me. And now god forbid you let anyone get to close."

"Too close, huh? You know all about that. Lost two boyfriends and You can't even shed a tear. Your whole family's gone and all you can do is go looking for hooch like some dumb college bitch."

"Screw you, you don't get it."

He stepped aggressively towards me. "No you don't get it. Everyone we know is dead!"

"You don't know that!"

"Might as well be 'cause you ain't ever gonna see 'em again. Rick…you ain't ever gonna see Maggie again."

I tried grabbing hold of him, hoping I could stop him if I held him tight enough. "Daryl stop."

He pulled out of my grip. "No!"

He stumbled away from me. "Governor rolled right up to our gates…Maybe if I wouldn't've of stopped lookin'…Maybe 'cause I gave up. That's on me!"

"Daryl." I tried to grab him again.

"Your dad…Maybe…maybe I could've done somethin'."

I stepped towards him and forcefully wrapped my arms around him from behind, pouring all my support into my embrace. When I felt him sobbing in my grip, I knew that as much as he tried to throw up his walls, deep inside he was feeling the pain just as much as I was. I held him to me tight, not wanting to let him go, and wanting him to know I was there for him. After a few seconds of sobbing he turned around and returned the embrace. Sobbing into my hair with his broad shoulders heaving. I felt myself start to sob too, and then _he_ was the one stroking my hair and gently telling me to hush.

I lingered in the embrace, enjoyed the warmth of him, and the smell of him. It was like sweat and dry grass. It reminded me of back home when the men were out turning the bails. Otis and my dad, Shawn…Jimmy. The feeling of being held like this was not something I wanted to let go of anytime soon. I felt the strength of his back, and of his arms around me that were thick with muscle. This was the big strong Daryl, hard Daryl. The one we relied on for protection, the one we relied on for just about everything, and here he was in my arms, Breaking down in tears.

* * *

We stood out there in an embrace for what seemed like hours, before we felt the sun leave us and the chill of the night approach.

"My backs aching somethin' fierce." Daryl groaned, as he leaned away from me.

I pulled away from his hold and allowed him to stretch out a bit. "Think we should go up, and take a seat." He motioned to the porch of the cabin. I nodded in agreement and followed him around.

Daryl went back into the cabin, letting the wooden screen door slam behind him, while I climbed up on to the porch. He came back out with a fresh jar of moonshine, and handed it over to me.

"Are you tryin' to get me drunk?" I asked playfully

He dropped himself down on the moss covered wooden boards, put his back to one of the weathered posts and pulled out his knife from its sheath. I dropped down and rested on a post opposite him.

"I thought you might already be there by now." Daryl's eyes dropped to the knife in his hands.

"Yeah I'm there. I think I just handle it better than you." I teased.

"I did drink more, an' faster than you." He tried to reason.

I shrugged and took the lid off the jar and took a swig at it. Daryl started fiddling with his knife, sticking it in between the planks of wood on the porch, and digging out the grit.

"I get why my dad stopped drinking." I said

He looked up at me and studied my face.

"Feel sick?" He asked.

"Nope." I felt pretty good actually. I felt warm inside, and free, and comfortable, and the sight of Daryl playing casually with his knife was getting me a little…excited.

"I wish I could feel like this all the time." I admitted with a smile. Imagine it, me, free and comfortable, and excited all the time.

I chuckled to myself. "That's bad"

Daryl looked like he was turning the idea over in his mind.

"You're lucky you're a happy drunk."

"Yeah I'm lucky. Some people can be real jerks when they drink." I teased.

Daryl lowered his eyes guiltily to his knife, lifted it and started picking away at the wood on a post in front of him.

"Yeah I'm a dick, when I'm drunk." His lips twitched hinting at a smile. I wished he would smile. He looked nice when he did, cute even, but it was such a rare sight. Almost as rare as him talking about his feelings. My gaze must have been making him uncomfortable because he quickly looked away and started telling me a story about his brother Merle and some tweeker he knew, whatever that was. Judging by the story it was someone who was crazy, probably a drug user. Merle had upset the tweeker over something he saw on the TV, and Merle and Daryl had got into an argument with him that ended up with Daryl having a gun pulled to his head. Daryl ended up puking and they tweeker laughed at him. Daryl gave a little smirk as he talked about it. But I didn't think it was funny at all. The life Daryl lived before kind of scared me, and I felt sorry for what Daryl had been through.

"You wanna know where I was before all this?" He asked me when he had finished his story.

I gave him an encouraging look. Of course I wanted to know.

"I was just driftin' 'round - with Merle. Doing whatever he said we were gonna be doin' that day." He looked in to the distance and I could see the sorrow in his face again.

"I was nobody. Nothin'." He looked sadly to the floor boards. "Just some redneck asshole with an even bigger asshole for a brother."

He blinked sadly into the night, and I wondered if he was going to cry again.

"You miss him don't you?" I asked.

He didn't answer, just looked around uncomfortably.

"I Miss Maggie…I miss her bossing me around." I chuckled. "I miss my big brother, Shawn; he was so annoying and overprotective…And my dad. I thought…I hoped he would just live the rest of his life in peace. I thought Maggie and Glenn would have a baby, and he would get to be a grandpa. And wed have birthdays and holidays and summer picnics…and he'd get really old…and it would happen, but it would be quiet…It'd be okay. He'd be surrounded by people he loved." I looked to the deteriorated ceiling of porch and tried to hold back the tears that were brewing. "That's how unbelievably stupid I am."

I reached for my glass of moonshine needing another drink to regain my composure, and not wanting to turn into a weak blubbering mess that Daryl had to take care of again.

"That's how it's supposed to be." Daryl tried to reassure me.

"I wish I could just…change."

"You did." Daryl insisted.

"Not enough…Not like you. It's like you were made for the way things are now."

"Nah, I'm just used to this. Things being ugly. Growing up in a place like this." He looked back to the rundown cabin."

"But you got away from it."

Daryl shook his head. "I didn't."

"You did." I insisted.

"Think you gotta keep on remindin' me sometimes."

"No." I grinned at him. "You can't depend on anybody for anythin' right?"

Daryl kept his eyes down.

"I'll be gone someday." I pointed out.

"Stop." He replied quickly.

"I will." I insisted. "You're gonna be the last man standing."

He didn't look too pleased by that either.

"You are." I asserted. Daryl looked up at me with a face full of misery.

"You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone Daryl Dixon." I pushed a little further. I know I would miss the hell outta him if he was gone. Or maybe it was just the drink talking.

"You ain't a happy drunk at all."

"Yeah I'm happy, I'm just not blind." I said with a warm smile.

"You gotta stay who you are…Not who you were. Places like this...you have to put it away."

"What if you can't?"

"You _have_ to…or it kills you." I pointed to my heart. "Here." I said with a smile.

His eyes went to my hand on my chest and he started chewing on his lip. His eyes made their way from my chest over my collar and to my face and he gazed into my eyes. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, I rubbed the dry tears from my eyes and rubbed my fingers through my hair.

"I look like crap when I cry." I said with a chuckle.

"You're the best looking thing I've seen in— well— at least a week."

He grinned at me and I smiled back.

"You look pretty good yourself." I told him, and watched as colour grew on his chiselled cheeks. His grin grew wider, and if I didn't know any better I would say there was a hint of coyness in that grin.

"You look like a girl I knew back home. Before. When I was younger."

"I do?"

"Yeah, well she was small, blonde - pretty." He cocked his brows on pretty. Perhaps the drink was talking for him too.

"Was she your girlfriend?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I never really had no girlfriend…but she was somethin' like that." He glanced down at his knife and then pushing it into the crack so it stood by itself.

"Do you think you'll find someone again, like that?"

He shrugged. "Hard to say." His eyes met mine and my heart skipped a beat as I felt a surge of desire run through me.

"Right now, I'm kinda limited for choice."

I pushed his knee away playfully with my boot and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Yeah not many girls around…or boys." I chewed on my lip, feeling a little nervous about making a move on him. "We've lost a lot of people" I said carefully.

Daryl was staring at the knife on the porch. I repositioned myself onto my knees and sat back on to my boots. I was now looking right at his lowered eyes.

"We could be the last ones left." I murmured. That was the kind of cynicism that usually came from him, but we could just be the last ones left…we could.

He looked up into my eyes.

"We don't know that." He murmured. Sounding a little more like my positive self.

"We don't know anythin'. We don't know if we're the last. We don't know if one of us will be gone tomorrow. We don't know if both of us will be gone." There I was with the cynicism again. I spent a second focusing on stopping myself from bursting into tears again.

He was still looking in my eyes but the intensity had grown. Did he know where I was heading with this?

"I don't want to die…I don't want to die without experiencing everything I could." I held up the jar in my hand, and took a swig an swallowed, hoping courage would come with it. "This was a start."

I was leaning in closer to him now and I was aware of his eyes drifting over my collar bones and downward where I could imagine a hint of my bra could be seen.

"I don't want to die…never even havin'…sex" I murmured. Did I really just say that? Was I suggesting sex with Daryl Dixon?

He let out an uncomfortable cough and then ran his thumb and forefinger over the course hair growing on his chin.

"You're…" He coughed again like he was choking on his words. "Gimme some of that shine." He leaned forward and took a big gulp of the moonshine. He hovered over me for a moment while he studied the jar. Then he out it to the ground on the other side of me. Then he put his hand behind my head and drew me in for a kiss.

It was rough at first, when he mashed his dry and hard lips in against mine. I opened my mouth a little so I could take his lips in mine and I found his tongue suddenly thrust into my mouth. I responded with my own tongue trying to be as delicate as possible despite his forcefulness. He crawled over me pushing me down by the shoulder, on to the floor below him. My head was down on the rotten and musty smelling wooden planks, and my came up to either side of him. I could feel a growing bulge pushing between my thighs, and my pulse started to rush as wondered if this was really happening, and if I really wanted it to.

His kisses were rough and wet. His tongue tasted like charred snake and moonshine, and his hair smelt of stale sweat. His mouth was moving against mine hungrily mouthing against my tongue and lips. He had one hand moving up the back of my shirt and cupping me on the back just below my shoulder blade. His other hand made its way up my front finding its way to my right breast and giving it a squeeze.

It was a gentle squeeze, and it didn't hurt, but I found an involuntary yelp escaping my mouth. I hadn't been touched in such a way in quite some time, and it was a bit of a shock. The second the yelp left my lips I felt his body freeze against me. My lip was in his mouth, his hands over my breast, and the bulge in his pants was still pushing between my legs.

He let out a long sigh and then moved his mouth away. I felt his warmth pull away and watched as he crawled backwards to sit on the floor once more. He rested his hands on his upturned knees and looked at me.

"Ain't havin' your first time be like this." He said tipping his head towards me.

I pushed myself upwards and supported my weight with my arms.

"Like what?"

"Like this?" He said, motioning towards the ruined cabin. "Here, in this shit-hole?" He grabbed a hold of his shirt and tugged on it. It was stained with sweat, mud and god knows what else. "With this ass-hole." He took a look at himself. "I ain't had a proper wash in days, and you can hardly count a dip in the creek as a proper wash."

"Neither have I." I reminded him.

He shook his head. "I'm old enough to be your daddy."

I laughed. "Hardly. My dad was in his seventies. He could be _your_ daddy." Daryl didn't look convinced. He pushed himself up to standing position and looked down on me like a child.

"You're not doin' it 'ere - With me - by a fuckin' moonshine still." He said, waving his arm around towards the shed. "We're gonna find the others." He said in a gentler voice. "And we're gonna find another safe place, like the prison. And there's gonna be other people there, other people your own age, and you'll find a boy you like and you'll get a nice, halfway clean fuckin' room and you'll do it then."

"Daryl I…" I tried to say I wanted to do it with him, but he cut me off.

"I gotta go." He said while moving towards the porch steps. " I gotta take a piss." He added, then glanced back at me. "You should try to get some rest." He said, motioning towards the cabin door. "We'll leave at dawn."

Before I could say anything else he was down the step and walking out into the surrounding trees. A feeling of worry rose in my chest as I thought of him alone in the dark. Then I remembered, it was Daryl.

I wasn't going to argue the point. The mood had been lost now, and I wasn't sure if I had really wanted it anyway. There was a definite warmth between my legs, but my whole body was warm and tingling. I didn't know if I was making choices or if the drink was making them for me.

I made my way back into the cabin and picked up a colourful loosely woven blanket, that was crumpled up on the floor. I lay down on the dirty floor and rolled the blanket up in a ball and placed it under my head. It was actually the most comfortable and safe I had felt in a while and I could feel the warmth from the moonshine churning through my body. It wasn't long before I was drifting off to sleep.

* * *

I woke sometime before dawn. It was still quite dark out, although the sky was turning a lighter shade of grey, as the sun moved towards a new horizon. My head was spinning a little and when I went to sit up I could feel the effect of the moonshine hadn't quite wore off. I was just relieved I hadn't woken up blind.

Daryl was sitting in the old recliner. His head tilted back, a soft snoring sound escaping his lips. I think this had been the first time we had both slept at the same time, since leaving the prison. He looked so peaceful laying there with his jaw slack, and his hands resting on the arms of the recliner. His crossbow was propped up against the front of the recliner in easy reach in case danger were to approach, and his shirt was tucked behind the grip of his knife. I found myself tracing the line of his body with my eyes. His muscular calves and thighs pressing against his jeans. The bands of muscle that stretched around his forearms. His toned upper arms and broad shoulders, they were quite spectacular. I studied his peaceful face, and the fine lines that were smoothed with sleep. I took in the hairs on his chin, his defined cheek bones, and the scars around his face. He was rough looking, but the roughness was becoming on him. I could feel my body stir with warmth. The same way it did last night when I was drinking the moonshine.

I wanted him. I didn't care about finding other guys, I didn't even care about a clean room. I just wanted to be with him. I needed to feel a connection with him, to feel something deeper than friendship. And he had to want me too. His body gave it away last night when he was pressed against me.

What the hell were we waiting for anyway? What I said last night was true. Either one of us could be gone any moment. We may never reach the others. We may never find this safe place we spoke about. But right here, right now in this room we were safe and we were together. It seemed like a perfect time to me.

I quietly got up, losing my balance a little as I stood. I waited a moment for my head to stop spinning and then moved to stand before him. I was not quite sure how I was going to make the suggestion to him again. I didn't want him to reject me again. I examined the dirty chair, stained and with the stuffing starting to come loose. There would be room for my legs by the side of his, if I dared to put them there. I took a deep breath and threw caution to the wind.

I found myself climbing on top of him straddling my legs on either side of his. The chair had tipped back as I made my approach and he awoke startled. His initial reaction was to reach for his crossbow, but then he must have realised someone was on top of him because he went straight for my throat trying to push me away with a look of rage on his face.

"Daryl" I gasped, trying to pry his fingers away. It took a second for him to realise what was going on and loosen his grip.

"What the fuck are you doin' Greene?" He growled.

I tried my best at showing my desire through my gaze, with lowered eye lids and pursed lips.

"I _could_ die today." I said softly and suggestively.

"Beth…" He groaned, but before he could finish I had my mouth pressed against his, prying my tongue inside to push against his. He still tasted of moonshine, although it had a more stale taste to it now. It was a little sour, but it didn't take long before the stale taste gave way to a taste that was sweeter and more exhilarating.

I felt his tension ease as I pulled my body against him, and then he was returning the kiss, rolling his own tongue around in my mouth. I moved my hands off his shoulders and brought them to the buttons on my shirt and began to undo them.

Daryl suddenly drew away. His hands were now on mine, stopping my movement.

"You sure you wanna do this?" He asked.

"Yes." I rasped, bringing my mouth back to his.

His hands took over, undoing my tee hastily and then pulling it along with my tank over my head and throwing it to the floor. He moved in to kiss me again, passionately. His hands were on my bare hips now. They were warm and a little clammy, and rough with callouses. They made their way up from my hips to the small of my back to my waist and then to my mid back before finding the clasp on my bra and undoing it in one smooth movement.

He slipped that off my arms and threw it on to the floor with my tee and tank. I felt a chill across my back, and it certainly wasn't because I was cold. Daryl's body was warm against me and the touch of his hands all over my body felt like hot stones against my skin. It was the feeling of exposure. I had never been this naked around any guy I was interested in.

I decided it was only fair that we were wearing the same amount of clothing so I pulled his vest down off his shoulders, and he pulled it behind him to finish the job and that too joined my clothes on the floor. Then I fumbled away at the buttons of his shirt, and he helped me with that too. I admired his chest for a bit, trim and smooth, with light wisps of hair growing in patches all over. I ran my hands up his chest and over his shoulders, and down his arms, pressing myself into the warmth of his body and feeling every toned lump and bump.

"Stand up." He breathed in to my ear.

I obliged and stood before him, between his legs, topless and a little self-conscious. My small breasts were just above his eye level where he was seated on the chair. He smiled at my efforts to cover them up and then pulled my hands away gently while he moved forward and started placing fluttering kisses all over my chest, breasts and abdomen.

He loosened my belt and moved his hands down to the fly of my jeans, popping the button open and pulling the zip down. His hands then moved to my hips and began shimmying my jeans and underwear together down past my thighs. I felt really exposed now. The soft golden brown hair of my pubic area was directly there in front of his face. I helped him to pull my jeans off, pulling one leg down collecting my boot along with it and dropping it to the floor. I took the other leg out the same way leaning on his shoulder for support. And there I was standing completely naked before him.

As he looked me over I heard a low groan escape his lips and I noticed his throat bob as he swallowed. He moved in again towards my breasts, and this time took my nipple in his mouth. I gasped at this new sensation as his tongue twirled around Turning my nipple into a little pink pebble. I gasped again when I felt his hands down below, running through the tuft of hair and then gingerly making their way to the entrance between my legs. I could feel how wet I was already as his fingers moved over the area spreading the slick moisture around. I moaned as he found a special spot at the top, with his thumb, and began to rub it. I gasped again as I felt another finger slip just inside of me, teasing my opening. For a split second I thought of how dirty he had been, but I couldn't focus on it for long as his fingers and thumb worked their magic. I could see now why he took that long gulp when we were playing the 'I never' game. He certainly knew what he was doing. I enjoyed the warm and throbbing sensation that was growing in the area and without intention I found my hands running through his scalp and pulling on his hair firmly.

The orgasm caught me off guard. It felt hot at first and then it almost felt like an explosion down below. I could feel my body shudder as the nerve endings began firing off into the palm of his hand. I knew now why they used fireworks to suggest sex in those old movies daddy liked to watch, because that was exactly what it felt like.

I found that I was gasping for air when I finally came to my senses and looked down on Daryl's smirking face. He loosened his belt and undid he buttons on his jeans. He leaned back in the chair and lifting himself using his shoulders and pulled his jeans off sliding them down over his thighs and over his knees. I tried to stifle a laugh as his erection sprung free of its binds, and flicked back and hit his naval. He pulled his boots off and then kicked the jeans off and to the side. Then his hands were back to my waist and he drew me in closer. I lifted my trembling legs one after the other and found them on either side of his once more, and I was kneeling above him. His face was below my breasts and looking up at me.

"You still doin' okay?" He asked.

I nodded, unsure if I was capable of speech. He drew me in closer and holding my thigh just below my buttocks he lowered me down, using a hand to position himself below me. I could feel the end of him pressed against my moist opening, and I gulped in anticipation.

"We'll go slow okay?"

I nodded again, and then gasped deeply as he pushed his way in to me. It hurt a little, first like he was pressing against something that didn't want to give, and then like I was being stretched too far, but as I slid down I could feel my body adjusting to accommodate him. He pulled me down until our pelvises were locked together and I couldn't take any more of him in me.

"Still okay?"

"Just shut the fuck up!" I burst out eagerly.

He gave me a smirk and then holding on to my backside began to rock my hips back and forth. I joined in with the motion, relishing in the aching sensation of him deep inside me. His mouth was on my collarbone, tracing moist kisses up and down. My hands were entwined in his hair, pulling whenever he made me squirm in delight. The pain was completely gone now, taken over by that warm tingling, clenching sensation I had enjoyed earlier. I found gasps and moans and all types of unusual sounds I had never made before, escaping my lips. They were met by his lower and more controlled groans, as he pulled my fragile body against his.

Just when I thought I couldn't handle any more he spoke up again.

"I'm going to go faster now."

I nodded in agreement. He grasped firmly on my backside and shifted from a slow rocking to a bouncing movement, drawing himself in and out of me. He was slow at first and then faster and faster, until I was moaning again as I felt the deep shudders climb to a peak and take over my body. Almost at the same time he lifted me up and off himself. Then I felt a warmness spurting out over my abdomen. I looked down to see he was holding himself while he spat warm pinkish liquid on to me, there were thin strands of red in it. Blood. I guess the fooling around with Zach had left me more of a virgin than I thought.

I was glad he had thought to stop when he did, as it had never crossed my mind to think about protection. We all knew the dangers of having babies at this time. I tried to push the thoughts from my mind and bought myself back to the present, to a panting Daryl sitting beneath me.

"Hop up." He rasped, pushing me back gently.

I obeyed and got off him and stood back, holding myself between my legs and appreciating the aching sensation that still dwelled there. He got off the chair stumbling a little before finding his feet, and began looking around on the floor. As he turned I took in the sight of his back. Toned like the rest of him, and there were two tattoos. I had seen them before, from a distance, and thought they were dragons, but now on closer inspection I could see they were demons of some sort. I also noticed several long deep scars along his back. I hadn't seen them before, and they didn't look like the typical hunting type scars. I wanted to ask more about them, but perhaps that was another subject not worth bringing up at the present time.

He grabbed the blanket I had used as a pillow and began gently wiping the mess off my abdomen.

"Sorry." He said. "We gotta be careful you know? We don't want…"

"I know." I interrupted. I didn't really want to talk about that right now. When he had finished cleaning me up he threw the blanket to the ground and gently kissed my neck working his way up to my chin and then to my face.

"You best get dressed now, Greene." He murmured into my ear. "I can hear walkers outside." That was a sure way to kill the romance.

He took my face in between his rough and calloused hands and looked me directly in the eye with a devilish smirk curling his lips. "I think they could hear you moanin' ten miles away."

* * *

***Important Note* I must do my civil duty and inform you all that the withdrawal (pull out) method of contraception IS NOT fail safe.**


	5. Be Good

**AN: The song used in this chapter is called 'Be good' by Waxahatchee, and it was a cover Emily did within the episode.**

***Warning* Contains sexual content.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter V  
**

**Be Good**

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Beth muttered before clasping her hand over her mouth.

That would be the moonshine. I had been a pretty shitty chaperone. I knew she had hardly eaten a thing that day, I didn't remind her to drink water, I got drunk myself and turned into an ass, I let her lose control of herself and then I fucked her.

_You're a real piece of work Daryl Dixon._

Beth took a few steps off the leave covered path we had been following, and bent over pushing her hands to her knees and began puking into the bushes. I went up behind her and held the hair that hung loose from her pony tail out of the way. It was the least I could do really, since this was all my fault.

I knew I had let her drink way too much, I knew that in the morning when she climbed on top of me she was still pretty lit. I didn't even let her get a decent sleep, she hadn't eaten anything the next day and now a whole day later she was still sick.

Beth wiped over her face and mouth with the back of her sleeve. That dirty sweater we had pulled off a walker, after she kept complaining of the cold. It wouldn't be helping ease her stomach wiping her face all over it.

"That feels better." She declared with a sigh and then straightened herself to a stand. She pointed to the spot she had been puking on the ground.

"There's that snake again." She joked with a tired chuckle. At least she could still have a sense of humour about it.

I looked down at her puke. I couldn't see nothing but liquid and leaves.

"Just looks like a shit-tonne of moonshine to me."

"Yeah I probably drank too much."

"Yeah I shoulda stopped you. Guess you had ta get drunk and do somethin' you regret though, right?"

I remembered it as something she had said while we played that stupid 'I never' game.

She turned around and smiled at me.

"I didn't regret anythin' Daryl." I lowered my eyes, feeling guilty as hell about what happened. And the look she was giving me was making me uncomfortable. It was like she was happy about it all. It just didn't sit right with me. Girls didn't seem happy after fucking with me unless it involved Merle giving them Crystal, Acid or E for their troubles. She stepped forward and bent down trying to look into my eyes.

"Do _you_ regret it, Daryl?"

It felt good at the time. Fucking good. It had been years since I had been with anyone, and decades since I had been with someone as sweet as her, but looking back at it now, it was a stupid fucking thing to do. What the fuck was Maggie going to say? She would probably fucking kill me, and then Glenn would kill my rotting corpse just for Maggie's sake. And Rick what the fuck would he think? I had only just gained his respect. If this had have happened a few years back he'd be throwing my sorry ass in jail. And Michonne and Carol, if we ever found her, they would think I was just some creep preying on the young and innocent.

She was still looking at me waiting for an answer. So I swung my Stryker off my shoulder, held it by the grip and stock, and pushed it toward her, she stood up and took it in her arms.

"I'm gonna teach ya how to shoot some sticks today." It seemed like a good enough distraction.

"Geez it sure is heavy." She groaned as she passed it hand to hand trying to get a good grip on it.

"You should try, drawin' it. You'll prob'ly snap them twig arms of yours 'fore you got it half way."

Beth looked the crossbow over.

"Is it drawn?"

I chuckled at her.

"Yeah Greene, its drawn for ya, you just point and shoot."

"Like this?" She asked as she raised it and moved the crossbow in my direction.

"Whoa." I said as I ducked out of the way and pushed the bow away from my face.

She giggled. "I was just messin' with you."

"Yeah, well don't mess about with deadly weapons and shit, okay?"

"Yes, Mr Dixon." She replied with a sly smile on her lips.

"Right…keep the stock to your shoulder." I pushed the stock so it fit into the fleshy part of her shoulder. "line up your target 'ere." I pointed at the sight. "Pull this trigger and let 'er fly."

"What am I gonna shoot?" She asked while she peered down the sight.

I walked over to the nearest pine, pulled out my Busse and dug an X in the bark.

"Try hittin' that."

I walked back over to her and put my arms around her back and lifted up her elbow. And leant into her ear.

"Take a breath in and, breath it out as you draw in the trigger, don't jerk it, and be prepared for a lil' kickback." I murmured not wanting to break her concentration.

She did as I told her and sent the bolt flying straight into the middle of the X.

I gaped at the bolt stuck in the tree for a moment. She turned her head towards me, with a satisfied grin on her face.

"Like that, Mr Dixon?"

I couldn't help but smile at her. "Yeah smart-ass. Let's see you draw it now."

She looked over the crossbow like it was an exotic zoo animal.

"Put it to the ground and put your foot in here." I said pointing to the stirrup.

She did as she was told, then looked up at me waiting for the next move.

"Now put your hands here, and pull it back to here." I smirked at her knowing there was no way she could do it.

"Good…lord…that's…tough." She strained back on the string and her arms started wobbling like Jell-O. I stepped behind her and put my hands by hers and pulled back on it until it clicked into the latch, tipping her up a little as her foot loosened in the stirrup.

She turned her face in to me, and fluttered a kiss against my cheek.

"No wonder your arms are so impressive." She murmured. I blushed while I slipped an arrow into place and stepped away from her, and her face creased into a slight frown.

"How 'bout tracking." She called to my turned back.

I looked back to her.

"What about it?"

"Can you teach me that? You're a real good teacher." She smiled at me again and I lowered my eyes. I was trying to avoid her gaze, but my eyes had also rested on some tracks in the dirt. I pointed to them.

"Why don't we track whatever made them." I suggested pointing down.

Beth followed them for a little while, dropping the bow and rolling her shoulders, but not complaining about the weight of the bow, which I knew was bothering her.

"Are we close?" She asked after about a half hour.

"Almost done."

"How do you know?"

"The signs are all there. Just got to know how to read 'em."

"What are we tracking?"

"You tell me. You're the one who wanted to learn."

Beth dropped the bow down and examined the tracks.

"Well, something came through here…The pattern is all zig-zaggy…It's a walker."

Damn this girl was good. She was gonna put me out of a job.

"Maybe it's a drunk." I said, trying to throw her off a little. She ignored me rightfully.

"I'm getting good at this. Pretty soon I won't need you at all."

"Yeah, keep on tracking." I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She followed the walker tracks until we found the fucker in an open clearing. She had approached, while I stood back and watched, and I had thought I saw something in the leaves, but before I realised what it was she had already stepped in it. She fell to the ground but managed to get a shot off into the walker. It was a pretty good shot, and I was impressed, but it wasn't down yet. I stepped in and took my Stryker and smashed the stock into the walkers skull before he could get any closer to Beth.

She had stepped in an animal trap. It was old and rusted, and the springs hadn't worked so great which was lucky, 'cause even through those boots, a good trap could have caused a major injury.

She was hurt though. She winced in pain as I slipped the pin and pulled it off her. I checked the range of motion on her ankle and then I helped her up to lean on my shoulder and she limped along while I supported her weight.

* * *

The trees began to clear and I noticed large grey coloured rocks through the low brush. We pushed through the bushes to find a cemetery, with a big white funeral home in the centre.

Beth was still limping along slowly, so I offered to piggy back her through the cemetery. She jumped on and I grunted, surprised at how something so little could weigh so much.

"Maybe there are people there." She said, motioning to the funeral home.

"If there are I'll handle 'em." I assured her.

She scoffed. "There are still good people Daryl."

"I don't think the good ones survive."

About half way through the cemetery yard, Beth wriggled about and pushed herself down off my back. She walked toward a large tombstone, with her usually cheerful face looked miserable. The tombstone read _'Beloved father'. _She was thinking of Hershel.

I spotted some yellow flowers growing from a weed in the ground and pulled them out and placed them on the tombstone. That was a nice sentiment right? A tribute of respect to her father. He probably didn't want anything from me now, after what I did. I looked down to the grave and thought about what I would have said to him, if it were him lying under that stone.

_Hey Hershel. I'm sorry I fucked your little girl. Sorry I popped her cherry. Sorry I did it on a musty old chair by a fucking Moonshine still. Hey I'm sorry I gave your baby her first drink. I'm fucking sorry that I stole all her innocence away. Hope you don't fucking mind._

My internal self-abuse stopped when I felt her small finger intertwining with mine. Obviously it didn't bother her what her dad might be thinking.

I gave her hand a squeeze of support and then she put her head to my shoulder. Instinctively I rested my head on top of hers. Fuck I was such an idiot, this was going to encourage her more.

I looked down on the grave that we were treating as Hershel's.

_I'm gonna take care of your girl Hershel. Even if that means keeping her safe from myself. I swear hands off from now on_.

Beth started to limp back towards the funeral home. I walked along beside her shaking my hand free from her grasp.

"Don't you want to hold my hand Daryl?"

She had stopped walking and was looking at me now, with a brow raised in confusion.

"I don't need to hold your hand, Beth. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend - in high school — kissing behind the bleachers."

She pulled her lips together looking hurt. There I was acting like an ass again.

"What are we then, Daryl?"

What was she asking? If I was her boyfriend? Now this was getting in to some heavy shit.

_That's what happens when you fuck with an 18 year old Daryl. You pop their cherry and they think your gonna marry them._

Fuck even in my head I was an asshole.

"We're not that." I said pointing to her hand. I turned my back and knelt motioning for her to get back on. I had to turn away from her confused and hurt look before she made me cave in and hug her or do something stupid again.

* * *

The inside of the home was pristine, no dirt, no dust; someone was obviously taking care of the place. We made our way down stairs where I was pretty certain they kept the bodies to embalm them and do whatever other freaky shit they had to do. It was logical that there would be medical supplies down there.

There were some bandages inside the cupboards along with a couple of dead bodies down there waiting out on the gurneys. They looked pretty gross. Like a well preserved walker. But Beth smiled at them like they were beautiful or something. It turns out she did think that. Or she thought that somebody cared enough about them to preserve them was beautiful. That was Beth, always seeing beauty in ugly-ass things.

"Don't you think that's beautiful?" She asked, while peering up at me.

Right now the only thing in this room that was beautiful to me was her. Her eyes were huge pools of blue, and her skin was so bright, and pale and clean, even though we hadn't washed in days. Her blonde hair was all over the place, curling around her ears and across her forehead. Her smooth, soft pink lips were gently parted. Enough for me to slip my tongue in if I really wanted. I shook the thought from my head and told her to sit back so I could see to her ankle. I carefully removed her boot trying not to move her foot around too much, pulled her sock off and then started wrapping the bandage around her swelling ankle. Even plump and purple her ankle looked pretty good — soft, smooth, milky white. I had the urge to kiss it, like a momma kisses boo boos, but I fought it off. I looked up at her and she was smiling down on me.

"Are you going to give me a foot rub?" She suggested with a wiggle of her toes.

I shook my head firmly and then put her foot down, picking up her sock and rolling it back over her foot.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, with a hint of concern in her voice.

I picked up her boot and tugged it back on, avoiding eye contact.

"What do you mean what's wrong with me?" I said, looking down to her boot.

"You've been acting weird all day."

Was it that obvious? I stood up, turned to the side, and braced myself against the nearby sink. We were going to have to have the uncomfortable talk sooner or later, so may as well do it in here where she had access to scalpels and shit. She was watching me intensely waiting for my response.

"I just…" How was I going to put this.

"We shouldna… " No matter how I said it, it was going to sound bad.

"We shouldn't have what?" she interrupted looking quite irritated.

"You were drunk, we were both drunk. It shouldna happened."

Beth took a quick breath in, and chewed on the side of her lip nervously.

"You're gonna do that to me, Daryl? You're gonna blame it on the alcohol?"

"Well yeah, I was shit-faced, I wasn't thinkin' clearly."

"Daryl, you stopped drinkin' hours before me. You couldn't have still been drunk when we…did it."

I shook my head.

"Nah."

"No?" She raised her eyebrows at me in disbelief.

"When I came back in after a piss, you were passed out, and I couldn't sleep." I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about her, but it was best she didn't know that. "So I had a few more drinks." Just a couple of jars of shine to settle the nerves.

She scoffed at me and shook her head, then she lowered herself down and started limping out towards the doorway. I made a grab for her hand as she passed, not wanting her to be mad at me, and she brushed it away.

"I'm sorry, Beth." I said trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"I'm sorry too, Daryl. I'm sorry I was just another thing you regret…_doing_." That felt like a kick in the guts.

"I don't regret it Beth." I didn't know how I felt about it really. "I just wished it never happened."

"That's the same thing, Daryl."

"That's not what I meant." I had to put some more thought into my words.

"I just don't want things to be weird between us."

She crossed her arms and glared at me waiting for more.

"I don't want it to be weird if… when we find the others. Your sister will be pissed."

Beth dropped her arms and shook her head. She took a step towards me as if she would embrace me and I stepped back in towards the sink again. She saw the movement and stopped in her tracks.

"She won't be pissed. We all need someone, to feel close to, to feel a connection with, someone to make us happy and to give us a reason to live when we feel we have none. She has Glenn for that, I'm sure she would want me to have someone."

"Not me though."

"Why not?"

I threw my arms up in frustration. Did she really need me to say it out loud?

"Because I'm me, I'm Daryl. I'm some dumb-ass red neck and you're this smart, beautiful, talented girl who is way…_way_ too young for me."

"I'm not too young Daryl. I'm eighteen, I'm an adult."

"Yeah and I'm twice your fuckin' age."

Beth swung her arms around motioning to her surroundings.

"The whole world's gone to shit. Do you think any of that matters? Do you think the rules of society still apply?" She had a point, but there was so much more wrong with this than age difference.

"You just… " I took in a deep breath as I felt a rush of emotion growing inside me. Something like disappointment, and self-hatred, that I hadn't really felt for some time. " You deserve better than me." I admitted truthfully.

She stepped forward again in an effort to hug me and I pulled my arms firm against my side and tensed myself up again causing her to stop.

"I deserve _someone_, Daryl." She smiled sadly at me, before turning around and hobbling back towards the doorway.

* * *

I found her later in a small upstairs bathroom looking through the cupboards.

"What you find?" I asked her. She turned to face me and held up some bars of soap and a tube of toothpaste.

"Luxuries." She replied with a smile. She handed me a bar of soap and then bent down picking up some plastic gallon sized bottles filled with a clear liquid.

"And look, someone was stockin' up on water. We could use it to wash."

I held my hand out for one of the bottles. She handed it over, and I unscrewed the top and sniffed the contents. Odourless. I took my finger and dipped it inside and tasted it. It was water.

"Water." I proclaimed.

"What else would it be?"

"I dunno, Kerosene? Some other shit you don't want poured over your skin?"

She smirked at me and then began pouring the water on to a hand towel, rubbing it with the soap and wiping it all over her neck and chest. I grabbed another hand towel to do the same. I pulled off my long sleeved shirt and vest and rubbed it along my arms and up under my shirt. It had been a while since I had washed with soap, it had been a while since I had washed even in clean water.

Beth nodded towards the bath.

"I would kill for a hot bath."

I looked into it, spotless like the rest of the house. I didn't really know what girls liked so much about hot baths. I only ever had cold ones.

"You could have one." I suggested.

"I could?"

"Yeah" I motioned to the bottles of water.

"All this water had to have come from somewhere. Maybe there's a well nearby. I'll have a look for it tomorrow, cart some water back 'ere, boil it up, fill 'er up for ya. It might take a while, and it might not be so hot by the time I'm done, but you could still soak in it. Relax." I didn't even know why I had offered to do that. It sounded like a lot of work, but there was something in me that just wanted to see her happy.

She was gazing at me with that look I hated so much. The one of doe eyed innocence.

"You're a romantic, Daryl Dixon."

"Nah." I scoffed. "Jus' thought you would like a bath is all."

She stepped towards me and ran her fingers over the collar of my shirt.

"You are. And you deserve to have someone too."

She was gazing into my eyes, and I felt like I was under some kind of spell, hard to move, hard to speak. It took a lot of effort to pull my eyes away from hers and pluck her fingers away from my collar.

She frowned while she eyed over my shirt.

"Maybe washing those clothes would be a better use for all that water, than a bath."

I looked down at myself. Clean clothes would be nice, but totally unnecessary. When I looked back up she was undoing her jeans, and less than wholesome thoughts were racing through my head.

_Control yourself Daryl._

I was about to tell her to stop when she looked up at me and spoke.

"Do you mind? I kind of need some privacy for the next part."

I backed my way out of the door and found another room to go and follow her example.

* * *

Later on after we had finished washing up we had a look in the kitchen to see what we could find. There was nothing at first but then we opened the cupboards to find a gold mine. Stacks of jars and cans all lined up neatly. There was even some soda bottles still freshly sealed. There was definitely someone living here.

"We'll take some of it and we'll leave the rest, alright?" I suggested.

"I knew it." She said turning her doe eyes towards me.

She was giving me that look again, the one that made me feel like cutting my filthy, no good hands off.

"Knew what?"

"It's like I said, there are still good people."

Yeah, I was getting better. I knew that. But I still wasn't good enough for her.

I took to securing the home while she looked around. I made sure all the windows and doors were boarded up properly, and rigged an alarm for the front porch. When I went back inside I could hear a song bird tune coming from the parlour. I walked in and found her sitting there by the piano playing some sorrowful song.

_We'll drink up our grief_

_And pine for summer_

_And we'll buy beer to shotgun_

_And we'll lay in the lawn_

_And we'll be good_

The song was bringing up all those feelings again, the ones I didn't want to have. The ones I didn't want to have about her. I gave a cough to let her know I was there. I knew I had startled her by the way she slipped off the key. She swung around on the stool to face me.

"The place is nailed up tight."

I walked into the parlour and put the crossbow down on the lounge chair against the wall. It was one of those fancy ones all curvy and puffy, like you would see in a rich old man's house.

"The only way in is through the front door."

I walked over to the open casket, ready and waiting for its next body, it looked comfortable, I kind of thought it might be cool to know what it feels like to lay in a casket while I was still alive, so I pulled myself inside, and settled in amongst the satin lining.

"What're you doin'?" She seemed a little shocked by my behaviour. I guess I was doing something immoral again.

"It's the comfiest bed I've had in years." That seemed like a decent justification.

"Really?"

"I ain't kiddin'." It had been a long time since I had even slept in a proper bed. Even before all this happened I was mainly hopping from couch to couch.

Beth was still watching me with curiosity in her eyes. I hated it when she looked at me like that. She looked so sweet and innocent, it made me feel like a fucking rapist or something.

"Why don't you go ahead and play some more, keep singin'." I suggested. Anything to stop her from looking at me like that.

"I thought my singin' annoyed you." She replied with a playful smile. Her and her fucking cute smiles.

There was no way it annoyed me, she had the voice of an angel, and the face to go with it. I was just being an ass when I said that before, surely she knew that.

"There ain't no jukebox so… "

Another asshole response, she had to be used to that by now.

She started again with the piano tune and singing in her soothing voice;

_And we'll buy beer to shotgun_

_And we'll lay in the lawn_

_And we'll be good_

_Now I'm laughing at my boredom_

_At my string of failed attempts_

_Because you think that it's important_

_And I welcome the sentiment_

This was probably what a Lil' ass kicker felt like when Beth sang her lullabies. Safe and secure and at home. I could feel sleep creeping through my body, lying in the comforting satin surrounds of the casket, at peace and in good company.

_you don't wanna be my boyfriend_

_And that's probably for the best_

_Because that, that gets messy_

_And you will hurt me_

_Or I'll disappear_

Shit. Did she just say boyfriend? Was that song meant for me? Did she think I was going to hurt her? She was right I guess. I had already hurt her, I knew that. But I didn't want to hurt her anymore, and if I tried to have anything with her it _would_ be nothing but messy.

"What's that song?" I asked when she had stopped playing.

"It's just some folk song."

"Old?" I hadn't heard it before so it must be old.

"No, it was released just before —you know — when this all happened." She replied.

Well it wasn't something I had heard on the radio.

"It's nice. Who sings it?"

"Waxahatchee."

Waxa what? It didn't matter really.

"What does the song mean?"

Beth shrugged her shoulders, and turned around on the bench to face me. "I didn't write it so I don't really know. But I think it's about a guy and a girl. They're really good friends, they just hang out together and enjoy each other's company, and they don't want to ruin their friendship with anything more."

Interesting song choice.

"But I think maybe it's a bit strained. And if they were in a different situation then maybe they would want something to happen. But you know. They're not, so…"

If the situation were different. If I had of kept looking for the governor with Michonne we would still be livin' in that prison, her daddy would still be hangin' around, and she would be avoiding me. If things were different and I had have taken better care of Zach on that scout run he wouldn't have been killed, they would have been fooling around together in the guard tower just like Glenn and Maggie. If it were different and no one ever got sick, and there were no walkers. She would be back at the farm, applying for college, trying to get one close to Jimmy so they could still see each other on weekends.

I looked at her face. She was still giving me that warm, hopeful, innocent smile. Even after all we had been through, after all I had put her through, she still looked at the world and everyone in it though rose coloured glasses.

I tried to use this positive thinking she was always pushing on me. If the situation had of been different, we might not be here together, alone in this house, clean, well fed and safe for the time being.

She dropped the smile and was now looking at me intensely, twisting her good foot into the floor nervously.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed." She finally said.

She sat up and gently closed the piano, and then limped over towards the door.

"It's only just got dark." I pointed out.

"Need an early night." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Do you need some help up the stairs?" I offered.

"Nah I'm good. You just stay there." She waved towards my new bed. "In your coffin." She gave me a small smile. It was her usually sweet smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. All I could see there was pain. Pain I, most likely, put there.

"Goodnight Daryl." she said walking through the doorway.

"Goodnight." I replied in a voice so quiet she probably didn't even hear it. I listened as she clumped up the stairs, dragging her injured ankle along.

* * *

I thought it would be good to sleep down here so I could be up and out if anything happened, but I knew sleep wasn't coming any time soon, my head was running wild with stupid thoughts I didn't even understand.

What the fuck was I doing here? What was I doing to her? To myself? I made a promise that I would take care of her, that I would respect her, and I would treat her the way Hershel would have wanted me too, but would he really want me to break her heart? I had made the mistake of letting it go too far, but wouldn't it be an even bigger mistake if I took it all back and pretended it never happened.

I started chewing on my nail like I always did when something bothered me. The casket, although originally comfortable, suddenly started to feel confining. I rolled around trying to get into a better position, but there wasn't really another position to take. It was either flat on your back or flat on your back. It was a stupid idea anyway, who sleeps in a fucking casket? Was I like some kind of vampire or something now? There was a perfectly good bed upstairs. Freshly made with clean sheets, and a warm body to lay next to.

I sat up and swung my feet out of the casket and then pulled myself out to drop on the floor.

There were other rooms up there but surely, she wouldn't mind if I shared the bed with her. Better for us to be close anyway. There would be plenty of room, and if there wasn't, a little cuddle couldn't hurt. Friends did that didn't they?

I walked over to the lounge and grabbed my crossbow and made my way back out into the hall and up the stairs. They creaked a bit, which was good. I would hear if anyone walked up them. The door to the larger bedroom was still open, but there was no light inside. I poked my head in to see Beth's form under the covers.

"Beth?"

She sat up and let the covers fall to her waist. Her hair was untied and curling around her shoulders, glimmering silver in the moonlight. She was sleeping in her underwear. Her clothes were in a pile beside the bed. Her necklace with the charms was resting in between her tits, and I averted my eyes, before things started to move that I didn't want to move.

"Do ya mind if we share a bed?…You know for safety and all."

She smiled at me and threw back the covers, inviting me in.

"Of course I don't mind."

I placed my Stryker by the foot of the bed and then pulled my boots off. Usually I slept in my shoes, but the sheets looked so pristine and clean, I didn't want to get mud all over them. I walked to the side of the bed, took off my knife sheath and placed it on the side table in ease of reach, and I dropped myself down on the bed and slid in beside her.

"You're gonna sleep in your clothes?"

She was looking me over, taking in the stains of mud and blood and half a dozen or so tears.

"Yeah. If somethin' happens. If I have to get up quickly. I don't want to be runnin' in my underwear."

"What's gonna happen? you checked the place yourself. No walkers are gonna get in here."

"I'm not worried so much about walkers. I'm more worried about people who can open doors."

Beth nodded towards the still open bedroom door.

"Why don't you lock it then?"

I guess that was reasonable. If anyone played around with the lock I would hear it before they were in the room. And the thought of getting out of my clothes and having a decent sleep was pretty tempting. But sleeping beside her with hardly anything on. That could make things messy.

I stood up and walked over to the door shut it and locked it. The room was dark for a second, night had crept up on us while I had been tossing and turning in that casket. My eyes started to adjust to the light from the moon that was coming in through the window. I pulled off my vest, long sleeve and button up. Then I undid my belt and pulled off my jeans. I left my drawers on. If I had have been back home, before all this happened I would have slept completely naked, but I couldn't do that now. That would definitely send the wrong message.

Beth watched me walk over to the bed and get back in. Her eyes were still on me while I made myself comfortable on the pillow.

"You get lonely down there?"

"Yeah, it probably wasn't the smartest idea, sleepin' in a coffin. Nightmares 'an shit."

"I thought you said it was comfortable?"

I rolled my shoulders along the bed pushing myself in to make the pillow fit around me.

"This is more comfortable."

She grinned at me.

"Is this going to make it more weird?" She asked.

"Prob'ly."

"If you hold me, I guess that'll make it weird too?"

"Yeah." Of course it would. If I was any closer to her, I don't think I could control myself.

She lay back down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. The light from the moon caught in her eyes revealing they were wet. She had either been crying or she was gonna cry.

"Roll over." I said pushing her gently on to her side. I couldn't have her cryin' on me now.

She did as she was told and laid on her side and I slipped in behind her, wrapping my arm around her and tucking her into me like we were a pair of spoons. Her hair was spread out on the pillow and looping softly over her neck. I pushed it to the side resting my chin on her shoulder. She smelt good, fresh and clean. As I breathed in her scent I could feel my dick starting to move.

_Not now_.

I was trying this whole platonic thing out. Well I thought I was. But if that was really what I wanted, I probably wouldn't be here, in my underwear lying behind her with my dick pressed into her ass.

She must have felt it moving cause she pushed back against me.

"Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Are you a little excited to see me?" She joked.

I ran my hands along her belly. Her skin was soft and smooth. It almost felt like I would tear it up with the callouses on my fingers.

"You feel so good." I murmured.

I pushed my face back in to her neck and took in another deep breath through my nose.

"You smell so good."

_What are you doing to yourself?_

"That's the soap from before." She informed me.

"We gotta make sure we take some with us."

She rolled over, turning her body in to me and putting her face on the pillow in line with my own.

"Do you think we could do it?"

"Do what?"

"Just be friends?"

No. Of course we couldn't just be friends. Look at us, lying in bed together half naked.

"I think we might've gone too far for that now." I admitted.

"So why are we even trying?"

"I don't know. I wanted to respect your dad. To respect you. I wanted to do the right thing. Be good."

She smiled at me. The same smile that always made me feel uncomfortable. Now it was just turning me on.

"I think my dad would respect you more if you were consistent."

I frowned. He probably would be more pissed at me for fuckin' and runnin' than he would for fooling around with her in the first place.

"And you have been doin' the right thing Daryl. At least you been tryin'. And you are good. You're the best person I have right now." She was stroking my face now, brushing the hair away from my cheek.

"I'm the _only _person you have." I replied

"And _I'm_ the only person you have." She smiled at me again. Fuck she was beautiful. Those big clear blue eyes looking up at me, you could be lost in them for weeks.

She was right of course, like she always was. We only had each other. Her dad wasn't here, Maggie wasn't here. It was just us two, and it may only be the two of us for some time. We might never find the others, and if we did I'm sure we could explain it to them, and they would understand, wouldn't they? I didn't want to hurt her. I was going to take care of her, and she would take care of me. Surely they would be okay with that.

I put my hands around her and drew her into me and pressed my lips against hers. Her breath was minty fresh. She must have used some of that toothpaste before going to bed. I started off kissing her gently but I got more forceful as she responded to me, wrapping her leg around my waist and pushing herself against me. I ran my hands up her back and searched for the clasp on her bra, pushing it together to release it. It sprung of her body and I helped her pull it off and drop it to the floor beside the bed, then pulled her into my chest, feeling the soft pillows of her tits against me.

I moved in to kiss her neck, brushing my nose upwards against her jaw. The smell of her was overwhelming and her neck still tasted sweet like soap. I slipped a hand under her side and flipped her on to her back, and she gave a soft giggle that made my cock throb. I moved my kisses from her neck down to her collarbone and then trailed the kisses down her chest and to her tits, pushing aside the charms that hung off her necklace. I placed a hand on one of her tits and began rubbing and squeezing , trying to be as gentle as I could. The other one I ran my tongue around and to her nipple, swirling it around the little hard cherry on top. She began to squirm and gasp and I could feel my cock throbbing hard and hot. I did the same to the other side and then I trailed the kisses downwards across her firm belly over her navel down between her hip bones. I took hold of her panties with both hands and dragged them down over her legs. She helped me by lifting herself up and lifting her legs so I could pull them over her feet. I was extra careful of her ankle that was still wrapped in the bandage. Her panties now joined my clothes at the foot of the bed. I turned back to her and admired the sight before me.

She was laying there completely naked on the bed. The moonlight shining on every smooth curve of her body. She looked like an angel laying there with her blonde hair spread out over the pillows and her face darkening with colour in the dim light. Demon Daryl Dixon, fucking an angel, I never thought that would happen.

I lifted her undamaged foot and began gently kissing it. I placed kisses up the back of her calf, behind her knee up her thigh toward her pussy. As I got closer I heard her gasp and I felt her body tense. I looked up at her face staring down at me with awe in her eyes. She had probably never had anyone go down on her before.

"You okay?"

She nodded and then fell back down on the pillows in surrender.

I held her ass in my hands and tilted her hips upwards so that I could reach her with my mouth comfortably and I gave a long slow and deliberate lick in between her lips. She squealed and arched her back immediately. Looking for the same reaction I began twirling my tongue all around the area, holding her in place as she writhed and moaned. She was so wet, I thought I might drown down there. I could feel the moisture building up in the hair on my chin, as I flipped my tongue back and forth and drew her clit between my lips and massaged it with my tongue. When she had let out a few good moans and my tongue and mouth were aching, I came up for air. Her face was even darker in colour now and her hair looked wild spreading out all over the pillow in messy clumps.

I pulled my drawers down over my hips past my knees and over my feet kicking them on to the floor. And then crawled on top of her. She was panting heavily and gasping for air, anxiously watching me approach her. I went in and kissed her mouth allowing her to taste herself, and then pulled away and looked down at her wondering how she would respond.

"Did you like that?"

Her tongue gently flicked over her lips and she nodded.

"I'm going to fuck you now okay?" It was probably a shitty choice of words, but what else could I say? Make love? That would make it really weird.

She didn't seem to mind because she nodded again then took her hand and ran her fingers through my hair to get a good grip on me.

I forced my way into her wet, warm opening, absorbing the sound of her startled moan, and then took a second to try to gain some self-control. She felt so tight, and so hot. Every time I moved in her she would clamp down on me and I thought it would send me over the edge. When I had a hold of myself I moved in and out of her slowly and gently, partly because I didn't want to hurt her, and partly because I didn't want it to be over before it had begun.

She had one hand on the back of my head pushing me into her shoulder. her mouth was by my ear breathing heavily, gasping and moaning and sending chills up my spine. The other hand she had on my back, pulling and grabbing and scratching at the already scarred skin.

When she had moaned so many times I had lost count and when the sound had turned into a weak whimper, I decided it was time to finish off. Grabbing her ass with one hand I drew her hips towards me and began pushing myself in to her hard, fast and deep. Her moans turned from the weak whimpering to the deep throaty bursts she had given me earlier. Her body was moving against mine. Her back arching upward, pressing her chest into mine. Her fingers were against my back, her nails digging in deeply. On her last orgasm I could feel her clenching down on my cock rhythmically and the sensation was too much to bear. It took all the strength I had to pull myself out and empty on to her belly, letting out a few deep groans of my own in the process.

I looked down on her spread out before me, she was glistening in sweat and her chest was rising and falling as she gasped for air. Her legs were bent at the knee and trembling like Jell-O. I took her legs and gently pushed them together and to the side and tried to hold them still for a few seconds.

When she looked like she had recovered somewhat I moved to the edge of the bed and looked for something I could clean her up with. There wasn't much, the bedroom was pretty spotless, but there was a small pillow on the floor near the bed. I reached down, picked it up and placed it on her belly, wiping down to get all the mess off. She was smiling at me again, her wits regained, and it was that same smile that used to bother me, but it looked a little less innocent now, especially after what had just happened. I gave her a sly smile back.

When she was clean I threw the pillow back to the floor and then pulled the covers up over the both of us. I moved in by her side and rolled her over again so I could spoon her. I gave her a kiss on her cool, damp shoulder.

"You're pretty good at that." She breathed.

"I've had years of practice." I actually hadn't had all that many fucking partners in my life, but I was certainly more experienced than she was.

She chuckled at the hint to my age. And I grinned to myself. At least it was becoming a more comfortable topic for me.

"Do you think the walkers heard us that time?" She asked

"Prob'ly, but don't worry. No walkers are gettin' in 'ere tonight." I only hoped something else drew them away before the morning.

She began rubbing her hands along my arms and I found myself kissing her neck again. It was pretty great laying here with her in my arms, in a clean bed, in a clean house. No walkers breaking down the doors. It must have felt something like this before. Living a normal happy life, with someone you cared about in your arms. Only it wasn't like it was before the turn. It was a lot more dangerous now, and I hoped this wasn't going to be another thing ripped away from me.

"This time we should sleep." I suggested. "Don't know when we're gonna have the chance to sleep in a big, clean bed again."

She nodded her head, and I tilted my head up and kissed her on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Beth."

"Goodnight, Daryl." She pulled my hands up to her mouth and kissed the back of my hand gently.

It was a good night.

* * *

I woke up at dawn, to the full of crisp, clean light. I would have loved to sleep in, as it was something we so rarely had the opportunity to do, but I couldn't fight my body clock.

It kinda felt like a dream, laying there with Beth. There was no smell of death, just the sweet smell of her in the air. I couldn't even hear the walkers outside. It felt nice to imagine that everything was like before, but better.

Beth had turned in the night and was laying on her front, her face turned away from me. Her bare back upturned and exposed. I watched her for a few seconds before I heard her whimper. She arched her back a little and then went limp again. I kept watch as she let out another few whimpers. They were small, sad sounds and I knew she was having a bad dream, most likely about her dad. She had made the same sounds just about every night since we had left the prison. I gently ran my hand along her back up and down from the base of her neck to the small of her back. Eventually the whimpering stopped. I leant forward to look at her face to see if she was still sleeping. Her face looked peaceful and her breath was relaxed and even. I kissed her gently on the cheek and then at her neck, then on her shoulders and between her shoulder blades.

My dick was already hard, as it was most the time in the morning, but I felt it stir again with thoughts of last night, and the touch of her against my lips.

_Hold on man, you're not as young as you used to be. _

It seemed my dick didn't agree as it just kept getting harder.

I ran my hand down her side, feeling the side of her tits, over her belly down to her smooth inner thigh. I lifted her thigh to the side a little so I could get to her easier and then I placed myself on top of her and entered her from behind. She was already wet and it helped me ease in to her despite her being so tight. The sharp gasp she let out told me she was awake, but she didn't say anything, so I started moving inside her. I took my hand to her bent leg and rubbed along up her thigh towards the front pushing my hand down between her belly and the bed sheets, reaching down until I found what I was looking for.

I ran my fingers through her hair and then pushed down on her pubic bone just were it began to hollow out above her clit. I kept applying a steady pressure while I moved in and out of her. She was wide awake now, moaning into the pillow and arching her back. I kissed her back and kept up the force on her front rubbing in a circular motion. She was clenching down hard on my dick and the feeling was nothing short of fucking amazing, but I could tell I wasn't going to finish, I was in need of a trip to the bathroom, and I really was getting too old for twice in one night.

It didn't matter anyway. This wasn't really about me, she had been having bad dreams, maybe this would help her sleep a little longer and a little better.

When my hand started cramping and my back started aching, and when she sounded completely exhausted and ready to sleep I let up on my onslaught, sliding out of her. A patch of dampness spread out on the bed around her thighs, if I had needed any more proof she enjoyed it.

I bent down and kissed her cheek.

"Feel better?" I asked.

"Mmm hmm" she mumbled. Her eyes were still closed, her face flushed but restful. I stroked her cheek and kissed her again.

"Go back to sleep."

I pulled the covers over her and then left her there to sleep while I went to check outside.

* * *

She looked so peaceful when she slept. Like a child. I pushed that thought from my mind, it wasn't something to dwell on after recent activities.

I didn't want to wake her, she was obviously enjoying her sleep, but the sun was high in the sky and it would have to be at least nine o'clock. She was going to have to be woken sooner or later.

I stroked the hair away from her face and she stirred at my touch. She opened her eyes looked up at me and gave me that smile that I was starting to hate a little less.

"Get dressed. I made you some breakfast."

"You made me breakfast? You really are a romantic."

"If you think pigs feet in a jar is romantic."

She screwed up her nose at the mention of pigs feet and then sat up and stretched. The covers fell down and I couldn't help but glance at her tits again.

My dick jumped and I started to wonder if I could go another round now I was more awake.

_Get a hold of yourself Daryl, you can't fuck all day._ As much as I would like to.

She moved to the edge of the bed and began looking around for her clothes. Was she deliberately bending over like that, teasing me? I got up and helped search myself, trying to get her ass out of my view. Her bra was over by my side of the bed, her panties by the foot of the bed. She had already found her clothes. I handed her the underwear and then stood back and watched her get dressed, torturing myself.

When she was dressed, she pulled her hair back and tied it in a loose ponytail. She then pulled one sock and boot on and I helped her to pull the other one carefully over the bandage. She put her feet down and limped her way out of the room and down the stairs.

After the third step I decided this would be quicker and easier if I helped her out, so I scooped her up in my arms.

"Snails'd be quicker 'an you Greene."

"I'm going as fast as I can." She chuckled.

I kicked the kitchen door open with my foot and carried her through the doorway. To the feast of Peanut butter and jelly, pigs feet and cola.

When we sat down I heard the cans from the alarm I had rigged up clang together. I grabbed my crossbow and headed to the front door, telling Beth to stay where she was.

It had just been some mangy old mutt with one eye missing. I tried to pet it but it ran away. When I went back inside and told Beth she looked a little disappointed she didn't get to see it. She probably loved animals as much as she loved people.

* * *

Later that night while we were back in the kitchen eating our makeshift dinner, Beth pulled out her journal and started scribbling in it with her pen.

"What are you doing with that?" I asked.

"I'm gonna leave a thankyou note."

"Why?"

"For when they come back. If they come back."

There she was again. Her pure heart, always thinking about others. It was this kind of innocence that made me feel like shit about rubbing my dirty hands all over her. But I felt like some of that innocence was rubbing off, like my hands were getting a little cleaner every time I touched her.

It was at that moment that I realised that it wasn't her losing her innocence that I needed to worry about. It was more about her helping me find a little bit of innocence of my own.

"Maybe you don't have to leave that." I suggested. She stopped writing and looked up at me.

"Maybe we stick around here for a while."

"Daryl Dixon, are you trying to shack up with me?"

"Nah, nah." Shit was I?

"Yes you are, you want to build me a white picket fence, and have babies and pet dogs." She was just playing now. I gestured to the cleanliness of the kitchen.

"We wouldn't be alone." But at least these people didn't know us, didn't know who we were before. They wouldn't have any reason to get fierce about me and Beth.

She was watching me carefully now.

"When they come back, we'll just make it work." I said with a shrug.

She looked a little guarded now. She probably still wanted to find Maggie. She probably wasn't as worried, about what they might say as I was.

"I mean they may be…may be nuts but…maybe they'll be alright."

"So you do think there are still good people around." She said with a cute nod of her head.

"Well there's one sittin' right in front of me." I nodded my head towards her. She gave me that beautiful smile that I was really starting to like now.

Our moment was interrupted by that mutt from before playing around in the alarm again. I knew Beth was disappointed she didn't see it before, so I decided I would coax it in with some pig's feet. My head was filled with thoughts of Beth and of living in our little home, playing with dogs. Stupid kid fantasies, but they were enough to distract me. I opened the door without even thinking to check first and I was nearly bowled over by a herd of walkers.

I tried to hold them off by pushing the door shut, but there was far too many. I called to Beth for my Stryker and told her run. As soon as I moved from the door they were going to flood in. I Stepped away from the door turned towards it and took a shot at one of them and then turned to run back in the house, Beth was in front of me, hobbling along. I told her to pry a window open and get out but she didn't want to leave me. I kept insisting until she ran ahead of me. She didn't need to worry about me, as long as she was safe I would be fine, I just needed her to get her crippled ass outta here. I led them downstairs to where the bodies were held, to give her more time to get out. There were a near dozen of them down there crowding around me, but I managed to trap them behind the gurney and then made my way back upstairs and outside. As soon as I stepped outside a terrible feeling crept over me. It was too quiet out here, and I couldn't see Beth anywhere. I called out for her and there was no response. I raced towards the road looking for any sign of her. All I could see was her bag lying on the road the contents spilled out.

I heard a car screeching away and looked up and watched it drive off. The sedan had a white cross on the back of it. I didn't know who they were but anyone who grabbed young girls in the middle of the night wouldn't be the type I would want Beth around. What the fuck would they want with her? Actually I knew exactly what they would want with her, and I did not want to think about that bullshit right now. Panic started to take hold and turn around in my gut as I raced off down the road behind the car.

* * *

I must have been running for hours. My feet were throbbing, my legs aching. I was drenched in sweat, my lungs were burning, and the night was turning in to day. I had to keep pushing on; I couldn't stop until I found that car. The cross on the back of the car had to mean something. Had it been someone from the funeral home? Maybe they were good people as Beth insisted still existed, the place had been kept pristine. Good people kept things pristine right? My thoughts slipped to all the stories I had read on serial killers. Being obsessively clean and organised did not necessarily make you a good person.

Now all the nasty thoughts were running through my head. What they were doing with her, how many of them were doing it with her. Would they kill her after or would they keep her as their pet? The thoughts made my head ache and my stomach turn.

To make matters worse I was approaching a fork in the road, by a rail line. Now I was fucking screwed. The car had passed through here too long ago and I couldn't tell which way it had gone. My nasty thoughts consumed me again and I gave in to the physical and emotional pain. I fell to the floor, exhausted and destroyed. I hung my head and started sobbing, like a kid that had lost his most prized possession.

* * *

I don't know how long I was sitting there staring at the asphalt, but now there were footsteps approaching me, six men, each of them with weapons aimed towards me. They surrounded me, and one of them, most likely the leader of the pack started talking. He made a move for my bow and I walloped him in the face sending him to the ground, I stood up snatching up my crossbow and pointed it at his head. If I was going down, I would take him with me.

He started cackling at me like a witch fucked up on crack.

"A bowman." he wiped away the blood from his nose. "I respect that. See a man with a rifle, coulda been some photographer, or soccer coach back in the day, but…a bowmans a bowman, through and through…what is it 150 pound draw weight? I'll be donkey licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second. I've been lookin for a weapon like that. 'course I'd want one with a bit more ammo in it, and ah…minus the oblongata stains"

"Get yourself in some trouble, partner?" Called a voice from behind me.

I only had three bolts left, and I would be dead before I could draw the bow again after firing the first.

"Suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people." The leader sneered.

He raised his eyebrows at me and chuckled silently. "Name's Joe."

It turns out this Joe wanted me to join his little derelict army.

There was nothing good about these guys. I could tell that by the way they stood, the way they spoke, the way they smelt. Like death, and not walker death, the death of the living. But they had weapons they probably had transport. Whatever else they had I could use to help track down Beth, and if I found out they had anything to do with taking her, I would kill every last one of them.


	6. Making Claims

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter VI  
**

**Making Claims**

**AN: This is just a small chapter to bridge between chapter V, Daryl's POV and chapter VII, Beth's POV. When I saw the sneak peak of Daryl and Len with the rabbit, and Len was taunting Daryl about the 'piece of tail.' I was thinking that is just too much of a coincidence, how did he know he had lost a woman and what was with that comment about 'little'un's? So my imagination went wild…**

I had been tracking that damn Cotton tail since sun up and I had finally got it in my sights, ready to fire a bolt, when I felt the wind splitting movement through my hair. An arrow knocked into the rabbit at the same time as mine. I knew who that was, the idiot Len with his Airborne. He had taken issue with me ever since I had joined the group.

I turned to see an accomplished look on his overgrown bush of a mug. I got up from my crouched position to meet him at eye level.

"What the hell are you doin'?" I snarled.

His lips turned up at the side in a half smirk, and he gave a casual shrug.

"Catchin' me some breakfast."

"Nah that's mine." I corrected, waving my arm at what was clearly my property. I made my way over to the rabbit, a mess of grey fur and tumbled leaves, with two arrows sticking up out of it.

"My arrows the one that hit first." He protested. "Cotton tail belongs to me."

I strode over to my cottontail and knelt beside it.

"Been out here since before the sun came up." I said as I pulled my bolt out, then pulled his arrow out and tossed it aside.

"You see, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here." He glared angrily at the spot I where his arrow had landed among the leaves. "Now, that rabbit you're holding is claimed, boy. Claimed whether you like it or not. So I was you, I'd hand it over. Now before you get to wishing you ain't never even got out of bed this morning."

"It ain't yours." I growled at him, stopping just a few feet in front of him in an attempt at unnerving him and his dumbass attitude.

"You know, I bet there's a bitch, got you all messed up, hmm?" He waited for my acknowledgment.

I took a step back, my thoughts moving to Beth.

"Am I right?" He continued. I made my way around him trying to put as much distance as possible between us before I snapped and broke his neck or something.

"Got you walkin' 'round 'ere like a dead man. Lost yourself a piece of tail. Must have been a good'un."

I stopped in my tracks, trying to control my rage and urge myself to walk away.

"Tell me something - was it one of the little'uns?"

My fingers instinctively moved to the sheath on my holster. He knew what would set me off. In fact he knew a little too well just what would set me off. I popped the button on the sheath ready to gain access to my Busse. One more smart ass remark and he was a goner.

"Cause they don't last too long out here."

I pulled my Busse and turned it in my hand ready to drive it into his gas bagging throat, but as I went to lift it I felt the resistance of something holding me back and then there was someone standing in between us, the leader of the group, Joe.

"Easy, fellas, easy. Let's just put our weapons down. See if we can't figure out what's really the problem here, huh? - Did you claim it?"

"Hell yeah." Insisted Len.

"Well, there you go. That critter belongs to Len."

"So let's have it." Len called over Joe's shoulder.

"Looks like you may be wanting an explanation. See, going it alone, that ain't an option nowadays. Still, it is survival of the fittest. That's a paradox right there. So I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress-free. All you got to do is claim. That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. your ah…" he trailed of and chuckled. "One word, claimed."

"I ain't claimin' nothin'."

"We're gonna teach him, right? The rules say we got to teach him." Len called aggressively.

"It wouldn't be fair to punish you for violating a rule you never even knew existed." Joe said in an mediative voice.

"There ain't no rules no more." I growled, while eyeing Len off.

"Oh, there are." Joe went on. "You know that. That's why I didn't kill you for the crossbow."

Joe took hold of the head of the rabbit, while I was glaring at Len, and I tugged back on it.

"Easy there partner."

He took the rabbit and hacked it in half against the nearby tree. He gave me the ass end and the other to Len.

Len didn't look too pleased and he started storming off in the opposite direction.

"Imma head back to base." Len declared angrily.

"Some of us still haven't caught anythin'." Said Joe.

"I got my catch." he said holding up the half rabbit dangling its lifeless head about.

"Now you know we're supposed to stay in our groups." Uttered Joe, raising a challenging eyebrow. "That's how we stay alive."

"I'm hungry, I needs to eat my meal." There was something about the way Len said _meal_ that made me think he wasn't talking about the rabbit.

"You gonna head back on your own? With the freaks out there?"

He looked back to where we had set up camp that morning. "I can get someone to come, I'm sure they'll wanna share."

Joe didn't look too pleased about that arrangement but he held out his hand and gestured for Len to carry on. "Alright then, head on back, but the rest of us got to get our Catch."

Joe looked over at me.

"You comin'?"

Len stepped in beside me, like he had something to say on my behalf.

"He already got his, I'll take him back with me, maybe even share some of mine."

He was leering at me now. It was an awfully suspicious way to be acting over a rabbit, especially one he had just fought me over.

"I don't think he'll want what you have." Said Joe, while slowly shaking his head.

"Sometimes you don't realise how much you want somethin' until it's no longer yours." He dangled up his half of the rabbit mockingly.

I'd be damned if we were still talking about that rabbit.

"He's got to learn our ways sooner or later anyways."

Joe looked at me waiting for my response.

I decided to accept the challenge.

"Lead the way." I said to Len.

A satisfied grin grew on Len's face.


	7. The Good, The Bad, and The Dead

**AN: There is a *Trigger warning* for rape, and other nastiness in this Chapter.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter VII  
**

**The good, the bad, and the dead**

_Ok Beth you've gotta pull it together!_

What could I see, what could I hear, what could I feel? I was inside somewhere, I knew that much. And it was a big open space, I could tell by the way the air moved around me, and the way the sound of my heavy breathing disappeared into the darkness. It _was_ dark, but my eyes could just make out several windows high above me. The moon must have been out, or the sun was coming up, as the glowed in a dim grey light. There was a distinct chemical smell in the air, like gas. Was I in some kind of Garage? My head was pounding and there was an aching on the left side of my face. I could feel something cold, damp and hard against my back. My shoulders were pressed against it, so that meant I had lost my sweater, I could also feel my backside against it, so I had lost my jeans. The cold air was settling over my feet so I had lost my boots too. Around my wrists, below my wrist bands, was something rough and itchy. Maybe rope? And down lower around my ankle the same sensation. My legs were bent awkwardly downward, and there was nothing supporting them below my thighs. I tried to move my ankle and it sent searing pain up my leg. So what happened before with the animal trap, that was real.

"Hello?" I called out into the darkness. My voice echoed throughout the room, and through my tender ears and head, causing the ache to worsen.

I could hear voices now as the ringing in my ears began to settle. They were the voices of strangers, two men by the sounds of it.

"I couldn't fuckin' believe it, first there's a car, fully fuelled, just sitting there waiting to be taken and then this sweet young thing was there runnin' towards the road. It was all too perfect."

A flame was lit and started to grow as it got closer to me, illuminating two faces behind it; Rough looking, with scraggly beards and missing and rotten teeth. I recognised the flame as a lantern as they held it closer to my face.

"God damn." One of the men whistled. "Ain't she a pretty thing?"

"Yeah we messed her face up a bit when she tried to get away, but the rest is just fine."

"You got a claim on her?"

"Nah, Len got in first, I got the car, but I reckon he'll let us have a shot at her if were real nice like."

They both chuckled.

I wasn't sure if what I was hearing was a dream or reality, so I let the words slide off me.

"Where am I?" I choked out, my throat was raw and dry.

"Looks like she's comin' to." Said one of the men, he looked older. He had Grey in his beard.

"Well hello little lady." Said the other one. He had long hair down past his shoulders, his beard was twisted into a point at the end.

"Who are you?" I don't think I even wanted to know, but the questions were running through my head and tumbling out of my mouth.

"Well we're your guardians for the time bein', until your claimant gets back." Said Pointy, before sucking on his rotten teeth, with a sickening wet sound.

"What are you gonna do with me?"

He made a sweeping motion of the room, which I now took the opportunity to examine. It was some kind of warehouse, I wasn't sure what it had been used for before, but it had several cars parked in it, and other items that were too dark to make out.

"We like to collect ... Never know when you might need somethin'."

He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Unfortunately the women are the hardest to come by." Added Grey.

Pointy began rubbing his hand up my bare thigh, I pulled it back sharply which sent a searing pain through my ankle, and I winced in agony.

"Don't touch me you fucker!" I said in my bravest voice possible.

"Oh, she got a filthy mouth, I like the filthy ones."

Grey chuckled. "You like all o' 'em"

Pointy beard was rubbing his hand upward over my hip, up my side over my singlet and stopping on my breast. He squeezed it in between his thumb and forefinger and drew his grip out pulling and twisting my nipple. The touch made my entire body tremble in revulsion. Who the hell were these guys? What were they going to do to me? Where was Daryl? I tried to remember what happened.

I had run from the funeral home, Daryl was behind me, I went out on to the road and a car had pulled up, the door was flung open and I saw a man in the back seat. It was Pointy. I had asked the guy for help, and he grabbed me and pulled me in the car. I tried calling out for Daryl, I tried opening the door, and then something had hit my face, and the last thing I remembered was someone calling out 'claimed'.

I began to scream for help, shrieking at the top of my lungs like a mad woman, panic had set in now and hysteria wasn't far behind it. My captors both laughed at me.

'Keep screamin'. No one's gonna hear you 'cept the freaks."

Freaks? Did he mean the walkers? Walkers would be better than them, I could handle walkers, I could even handle killers, like the governor. These guys, they were something else.

Now a third guy walked in through the door. He looked completely different from the other two. Not only in looks but just the way he carried himself, it was a lot less creepy. He was younger again, maybe in his twenties. His head was shaved bald, and he had deep brown eyes and skin the colour of burnt ochre.

"What the fuck have you got there?" He asked. I could see a mixture of shock and awe on his face as he approached me.

"Len's new toy." said Pointy.

"What are you going to do with her?" The young guy asked.

"Fuck the shit out of her of course – after Len, if he's willin' to share. Maybe you can go after me?" He grinned devilishly at the younger guy.

"Get in line kiddo." Said Grey with a chuckle

I was already trembling and a cold sweat was forming on my brow but now I had a new sensation; all-consuming terror. I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my ears and I was going to lose my bladder any moment now. These guys were bad, very bad and they weren't just going to kill me, they were going to rape me. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer to Daryl. _You're the best tracker I know, you better find me, and fast!_

"There you go Anton, she'll be nice and wet by the time you get a go."

I opened my eyes and looked over at the man they were talking to. The man they called Anton still had the deer caught in the lights kind of look on his face.

Pointy put his ice tipped nose down on my neck and sniffed.

"Man she smells so clean." He made a beckoning motion to the others.

"Come smell her, I aint smelt nothin' like that in years." Grey came closer and smelt my neck too. I pulled against the ropes wanting to just be able to grab a hold of them, their hair, maybe an ear, anything. Maybe I could hurt them enough to make them think twice about coming near me.

My hands were firmly tied I wasn't going anywhere.

_Deep breaths Beth, don't panic just try to focus._

Pointy beard began running his nose down my body over my singlet, down to my underwear. He stuck his nose in between my legs and took in a deep breath. I cried out in shock and revulsion and tried pulling my hips away, but I couldn't move them more than a few inches.

"And that smells even sweeter." Pointy said as he stood up straight.

I lost control at that point, tears were falling down my cheeks and I started sobbing.

"Please let me go." I began to beg.

"Sorry lil lady, I think you're gonna be around for a long..._long_ time." Said Grey.

I looked over to Anton, the one with the sympathetic eyes.

"Please help me." I pleaded. He took a step back and shook his head.

"You guys really are sick fuckers." He said while he backed his way to the door.

"No please, help me." I shrieked after him.

"You've been with us for two months and you only now realise we're sick fuckers?" Grey and Pointy started laughing together. Anton sneered at them and then was gone out the door.

"What the fucks his problem?" Asked Pointy. "Prob'ly just pissed he weren't there to make his claim." He put a hand on each of my breasts and squeezed, I let out a wail and sobbed again.

"I'm sick of this claiming shit." Said Grey.

"Yeah I know, but he got his rules."

"Yeah you don't want to piss him off. He's been real on edge ever since Lou. Maybe things will get better when we track down that asshole who killed him."

"But fuck man, my dick is so hard" Pointy leant backwards pushing out a growing bulge in his pants.

Grey pointed off into the darkness of the warehouse.

"Maybe you can use her? Don't think she's wanted no more."

Pointy beard screwed up his face.

"She's all dried out and shit."

What the fuck were they talking about? Who were they talking about? I turned my head to the darkness trying to see what they were pointing at.

Pointy was leering down on me with a sickening smile on his face.

"You want to meet your room mate?" He asked.

No, I really don't think I did.

He grabbed the lantern and moved into the darkness to a wooden table, a dark cloth was draped over it and there was something lumpy beneath. I held my breath in terrified anticipation as he pulled back the cloth.

There, tied to the table by the ankles and wrists, much like myself, was a female walker. It had flinched away from the light initially and was now gasping. Its body was mottled with purple and green, there were bite marks all over its body, raw flesh was exposed on one of the breasts were another walker must have bitten off her nipple. The walker was covered in filth, some of it dirt, some of it other bodily fluids. I shuddered to think what they were using that walker for. These were definitely the sickest people I had ever come across.

"This is a...umm...I forget her name." Pointy slapped the female walker on the thigh, and she groaned at him. "You'll be her replacement."

I felt a warmness spread over my thighs and down along my butt that was pressed against the table and I knew I had wet myself. I was totally screwed!

I started wailing and moaning and out of the corner of my eye I noticed the walker's head move towards the sound I was making.

I turned my head and stared at her in horror. Her face was bloody and bruised, her mouth full of black blood and missing teeth, her eyes blood shot, her lips were cracked and dry, but they moved like I had never seen a walkers lips move before.

They mouthed the words

"Kill me."

* * *

It was some hours later when the sun began to rise and cast more light on my predicament. I _was_ in a warehouse. There were several large rolling doors, and a smaller door on the far wall that the men had been going back and forth through all night. Large windows were spotted all over the upper parts of the walls. There were a number of items in the room, old car parts, Jerry cans, some paint tins, all placed in notable piles. There were three tables in the room. The table I was laying on, the table that held that other woman, the one who wasn't a walker, and another table. It was empty but there were blood stains on it. I did not want to think what had happened there.

I was guiltily relieved that they had covered the other woman back up. Every time I looked toward her I was reminded of my fate, so I kept my head turned the other way.

The way I was tied to the table with my legs bent over the end meant my back would arch up in an unnatural and uncomfortable way every time I tried to move. I had been pulling against the ropes all night and my ankles and wrists were raw and bloody, my injured ankle was swollen and throbbing from all the twisting and turning. I was shivering uncontrollably, partly through fear and partly through cold. Although the room was starting to heat up now the sun had risen, cold weather was approaching and all I was wearing was my singlet and underwear. I wondered what had happened to my other clothing.

I examined the room trying to think of a way I could escape, if I could just loosen the ropes a little, if I could just free one arm, that's all I needed, but I had been trying that all night. I had tried looking for something I could use to cut the ropes, something I might be able to reach with my fingertips, a rough edge, a splinter, anything, but there was nothing. I had tried using my body weight to shift the table, move it to somewhere I could reach something, or topple it over, but it must have been bolted to the ground. I was completely and utterly without hope. The only chance I had was if someone helped me, and the only person who might have any idea where I was or how to find me was Daryl.

He had been there through everything, protecting me from the worst. I thought about the comment he had made about the good people not being able to survive. He was right.

My thoughts were interrupted by a shadow in the door, as it approached I noticed it was Anton. He was holding a can, a spoon and a bottle of water.

"Help me." I tried to plead with him again. If there was anyone in this place who would help me, it seemed most likely to be him.

"I can't." He murmured. My heart sank a little.

He opened the bottle of water and put it to my lips.

"You have to, they're going to – they're going to do horrible things to me." I said pulling my mouth away.

Anton closed his eyes like he was having some kind of internal struggle. He opened his eyes again and looked down on me sympathetically.

"Here, drink." He said forcing the bottle between my lips, I tried drinking but it came out too fast and I choked on it coughing the water all over myself.

"Shit, sorry." He said, taking a cloth from his pocket and wiping my face.

I started crying again, sobbing and pleading.

"You gotta help me, you gotta!"

He began opening the can pulling back on the pull ring, he took a spoon and scooped up the contents of the can and held it to my lips. I took a mouthful of it and swished it around my mouth. It was a vegetable soup. I spat it back out at him defiantly. It had sprayed all over his face. I wasn't sure if that was the best move to make, it probably wouldn't win me any sympathy.

He took the cloth he used to wipe my face and calmly wiped the soup away.

"I'm helping you all I can." He scooped up another spoonful and pressed it to my lips. I kept them locked tight. He sighed in frustration.

"You gotta eat. You'll need your strength"

What did I need my strength for? So they could use me for longer?

"I really want to help you, I really do...but you don't know what these guys are like." He turned his head towards the door and then back towards me.

"Even if I helped you, I couldn't get you out of here, I'm outnumbered, and we still have more to come back. They've got weapons and they're ruthless. I can't get you out of here safely."

"But you can try?" I pleaded.

He sighed again.

"Please eat" he said, putting the spoon to my mouth again. I was starving and my stomach groaned at the smell of the soup. I opened my mouth and he slipped the spoon in dropping the contents into my mouth. It tasted pretty awful, but I really didn't care at that point.

He continued to feed me slowly, scraping the drips from my lips with the spoon as they escaped, like I was a baby. He kept it up until he was scraping the bottom of the can with his spoon.

"Look, I can't make any promises - it's risky." He looked around at the door again.

"I'll see what I can do, maybe I can try - I'll think about it."

I began sobbing again as a glimmer of hope started to build within me.

"Thankyou." I choked out between sobs.

"No promises." He took his bottle of water, his can and his spoon and backed towards the door.

"Don't leave me." I wailed after him.

"I have to go, they'll be back soon."

"Don't leave me!" I wailed again as he backed out through the door. I gave in to the sobs again. Who was this guy? What was he doing hanging around with these sickos, could I even trust him? I guess I was going to find out.

* * *

The day came and went, and my captors moved in and out of the warehouse. Most of the time they ignored me, but a few times they came up to me and taunted me about my fate, or made a grab at my body. My body was exhausted but my mind was fueled by adrenaline and I managed to keep awake thoughout the night fearing what would happen if I fell back to sleep. The anxiety of not knowing what was happening to me was more terrifying than anything else those men were doing or saying to me. It was getting to a point where I just wanted this guy Len to come back and get it over and done with.

Sometime after noon, judging by the light outside the widows, I heard voices approaching from outside.

"They already got the trail, Jus' gotta come back to get supplies and they'll be off again." Said an unfamiliar voice.

"You gonna go with 'em? ...Will you leave the girl 'ere? I been keepin her nice and safe for ya, that's gotta be worth some brownie points right?" that voice sounded familiar, like Pointy.

He walked in the room with two figures directly behind him. They both had the same look as the others, rough and dirty. Then another two figures entered.

I felt my breath catch in my throat as sheer relief flooded my body. One of the men was Anton, the sight of him was enough to give me hope, but there was an even more hopeful sight beside him. The dirty torn jeans, the angel winged vest, the crossbow, the messy dark hair. It was Daryl.

I tried to stifle a squeal. _Just think Beth. _He wasn't tied up, he wasn't struggling, he was with them, or he was appearing to be with them. I watched his face pale as he looked over me. His lips were turning white and I could tell he was holding his breath. His knuckles were growing white as well, as they gripped on to his crossbow.

The second man who entered, stalked over to me triumphantly. He was long and thin with black waved hair and a thick bristling beard. He had a bow hung over his shoulder, but different from Daryl's, like one they used in the olympics. He stopped beside me and looked me over from head to toe.

"I think this is the finest one we've ever found." He commented.

I tried not to look at Daryl, they didn't know we were together, there was no way he was actually friends with these degenerates.

"What you think Daryl?" He knew his name, so he must have convinced them he was with them. Daryl hesitantly stepped forward and looked over me, I could see the fury in his face, but he was controlling it.

"That's a sweet piece of ass." He croaked.

"Too bad I already put my claim down." I guess that would make this guy Len.

"Joe let you put a claim on people too?" Daryl was glaring at him, with a familiar scowl on his face.

"Joe knows what we need to keep peace."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and started turning his head like he was cracking his neck.

"You wanna go yerself?" Len laughed and the other men joined in. Anton stayed cold faced.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders again.  
"It's been years since I fucked anything half decent looking." He said motioning to me.

"It's been a long time fo' all a us." Said Len. The other men grunted and nodded in agreement.

"I'll barter for her." Suggested Daryl.

"What you got to barter with?"

Daryl reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a handful of jewels he had got from back at the country club. He dangled them in front of Lens face.

"That aint worth shit out 'ere." Len said with a chuckle and the other men joined in. Anton was still lurking in the back straight faced.

"Well what you want then?" Daryl asked.

"How abouts that Stryker." Len said pointing at Daryl's crossbow.

A saw a glimmer of something in Daryl's eyes. He looked at me and then down at the bow.

He couldn't be serious? Was he actually thinking about it? _Relax Beth, he's not a fool, he's playing with them._

Len started rubbing the hair on his chin thoughtfully.

"She'll be all yours for so long as she's with us." He swept his hand around to the other men in the room. "No one else will touch her." I heard a few disappointed groans. Len glared angrily at the men and the groans stopped.

Daryl looked like he was deep in thought. I really hoped this was all an act.

"Okay that sounds like a fair deal."

Len held out his hand towards Daryl. "Let me have it then."

Daryl was thinking.

"Jus' lemme set it up for ya."

Daryl began messing round with the crossbow, turning the arrow around playing with the string. Len stepped forward and snatched it off him.

"I know how to use the fuckin' thing." He held the bow up and turned it around holding it in the correct grip. He lifted it and aimed it towards me on the table. Daryl took a step forward. And Len made note of his movement.

"Don't worry, I aint gonna shoot her – she ain't mine no more." The men chuckled.

Len took a step back and waved for Daryl to approach me.

"Well go on then, a deals a deal."

Daryl stepped towards me. His eyes were down cast looking at my binds, and at my underwear, I wondered if he could tell I had wet myself. He stretched a hand out to touch me, but it hovered just above my skin while he looked down on me, tormented.

"You gonna fuck her or what? Been a while like you said."

Daryl moved in between my legs and began to undo his belt.

_Just breathe Beth, he knows what he's doing._

He stopped and looked around at everyone.

"I can't do it with everyone watchin'."

"We like to watch." Leered Pointy. "We like to hear em scream."

The other men chuckled.

Daryl reached into the front of his jeans.

"I can't. Performance anxiety."

Len sighed, and then turned towards the door, he waved for the men to follow.

"Come on guys, he don't want us to see his small cock... We'll stop the freaks from comin' when she starts making noise."

The men all sniggered lecherously as they made their way out the door. Anton glanced back warily as he exited.

Once they were safely out I began sobbing. Daryl cautiously looked towards the door and then moved towards my head. He had tears in his eyes and his face was bright red. He kissed me quickly on my eyelids and then unsheathed his knife and began sawing at my binds, trying to get the blade wedged in without cutting me.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked, examining the swelling on my face. It was an obvious answer. But I don't think that was what he meant.

"They didn't ..." I gasped. "They didn't touch me." He was still working at the binds on my wrist.

"We gotta get out of here, these guys are nuttier than squirrel shit."

I nodded in agreement. He was looking around at the room and at the window behind me.

"Did you notice another way in?"

I shook my head.

"I was out cold when they brought me in."

He pulled the rope off my wrist and I twisted my hand around enjoying the cool air on the burning flesh.

"We gotta be quick." He knelt down to get to the bind at my ankle and as he knelt I saw the shadows in the doorway.

"That fucktard said somethin' before. I think they know that I know you." Daryl continued obliviously.

"We do, and we know, that you know that we know." Len stepped through the doorway. His men behind him sniggering at his choice of words.

They were all armed and were aiming their weapons at Daryl. Len lifted Daryl's crossbow ready into his arms and made a nodding gesture to Pointy and another man, that came over toward Daryl and I. One came close to me and I swung my free arm out towards him in an effort to punch him, it was my left arm and it was an awkward punch, and he was too fast. He grabbed my wrist and held it down firmly against the timber of the table. With the other hand, he pointed the gun to Daryl's temple. Pointy was now on Daryl's other side, with a gun pointed at his other temple. Daryl was frozen between the two.

"Both of you found over by cemetery drive." Len raised the crossbow to aim at Daryl's head.

"There's no way a pretty young'un like that would be out there on 'er own, and you...you looked like you had lost somethin' real special when we found you."

A wide mischievous grin was pasted on Len's face.

I looked to Daryl, his eyes were full of abhorrence.

"You gave over your bow a little too easily too."

Len pointed towards me and then put his hand back on the bow.

"She looked a lil relieved to have ya 'tween her legs, and I don't think it's just 'cause your prettier 'an me."

I tried to pull my wrist free from the man's hand again but he slammed it back down on the table.

"It's gonna be kind of ironic isn't it. Being killed by your own bow?" Len crowed.

I looked over at Daryl, he moved ever so slightly to the left, moving in closer to the man who was holding me. Was he planning something?

I saw Len's finger tighten around the trigger and a wail escaped my lips as I saw the arrow hurtling out towards Daryl.

* * *

There was a wet snap and a thud as the arrow hit home in his neck. It had skewed off to the right and pierced the man who was holding me. The guy grabbed towards it as blood started fountaining out all over me and all over the floor, he fell to the ground, choking and spluttering.

"Naw shit." Len dropped the bow to the floor with a clang. "Piece of shit bow."

Daryl was now wrestling with Pointy trying to get a hold of the gun. He elbowed him a few times in the face, and brought the man down to his knees. Then he started reaching for the knife that he must have dropped when he was cutting my binds.

As that happened Grey moved over and pushed the muzzle of his shotgun into Daryl's lowered head forcefully. Daryl let go of the knife letting it clang to the floor noisily.

Pointy recovered himself, stood up and gave Daryl a firm knee into his abdomen. Daryl doubled over expelling all the air from his lungs, while Anton just stood back in the darkness and watched.

During the commotion I had been trying to free my other wrist. But Len was now next to me and he slammed my head down on the table. I was momentarily stunned, seeing small yellow stairs in my vision. He was now holding my wrist back down with his grime covered hand.

"It's all good, he was fuckin' useless anyway." He pointed to the body on the ground, I could just make out the arrow sticking out of his neck from my position on the table.

"And I didn't really want you to miss this." He was speaking to Daryl.

He now moved between my legs, he began pulling at my underpants tearing them as he pulled them down over my thighs. I screamed at him and tried to move my hips around but he held me in place.

"You fucker, you sick fuckin' piece of shit! I'm gonna tear your guts out and wear 'em as a belt, you mother fucker. I'm gonna rip of your head and piss down your throat. I'm gonna feed you to the gators..." A whole stream of cusses were pouring out of Daryl's mouth, words I had never heard before, I'm sure he was making at least some of them up. Pointy and Grey both knocked the muzzle into Daryl's head at the same time, which quietened him down to a heavy panting.

Everyone was laughing at Daryl's display, except Anton who was still quiet in the back, holding his pistol aiming at Daryl.

"Who is she to you anyway?" Len said as he looked me over.

"Is she your daughter?"

Daryl flinched.

"It's your fuckin' daughter isn't it?"

"You fuckin' touch her and I'll cut your dick off and feed it to you." Daryl spat.

Len ran his free hand along my cheek and then grabbed a handful of my hair roughly, he turned my head towards Daryl.

"You want daddy to watch while I fuck you?"

All I could do was sob.

Daryl was still swearing his head off in a barely intelligible mumble.

"You going to call out for daddy?" Len was questioning me.

I kept my mouth shut. I couldn't call out for him, that would crush him.

He pulled my head up by my hair again, and slammed it back on the table. The pain throbbed through the back of my head and towards the swollen left side of my face.

"Call out to daddy." He urged.

I kept sobbing.

Len looked to Pointy.

"Kill him."

"No!" I wailed. "Daddy, help me!".

I wasn't even thinking of Daryl when I said it, I was thinking about my dad, as if he could arrange some kind of divine intervention from God and rescue the both of us. The tears were streaming down my face now, and now tears were falling down Daryl's face too.

"That's a good girl." Whispered Len in my ear, causing me to shudder in revulsion. He shook his head at Pointy who lowered his gun just a little.

"I think daddy likes to watch." Said Len as he began fumbling down between my legs. I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for what would come next.

_Don't be here Beth, be somewhere else, back at the farm, or in the prison, out in the woods with Daryl, anywhere but here._

"I think deep down, all men wanna fuck their daughters." It was Len's cruel cold voice.

_Block it out Beth, just block it out._

"You want to fuck your daughter don't ya?." I winced as I felt him press against me trying to get inside. I moved my hips away as much as possible while he tried to push in.

I kept my eyes clenched together as Daryl let out an inhuman wail.

And then I heard the cracking of the gunshot.

My ears were ringing from the sound that was reverberated through my skull, along with the scream that was escaping my own lips. I didn't want to open my eyes. I couldn't. To see Daryl's lifeless body, a bullet wound in his head, his face pale and expressionless. Confirming that he was lost, that would be worse than what my own body was about to endure.

Len pulled away from me and I felt a sense of relief tied in with a sickening anguish.

"What the fuck?!" Len said with outrage in his voice.

I opened my eyes, I had to see what he was responding to. I looked over to where I had last seen Daryl standing with the muzzle of the gun to his head.

He was now rolling on the floor in a struggle with Grey, he had hold of the shotgun and was wrestling him down to the ground. He forced the shotgun down knocking Grey's head back on to the hard ground and then using the butt of the gun to hit him in the face. Daryl flipped the gun in his arms and lined it up below Grey's upturned chin. He pulled the trigger, blowing his head clean off and spraying it's remains all over the floor.

My eyes shifted across to Anton who was standing with his handgun still drawn, with wisps of smoke escaping the muzzle. It was aimed at where Pointy had been standing. I looked down and saw Pointy on the floor, his head in a pool of blood.

Len let out a cry of fury and began stalking over towards Anton, while pulling his bow from off his shoulder. His pants were still pulled down around his hips as he shuffled along. He began shouting vehemently at Anton.

"You mother fuckin' untrustworthy piece of..."

Len suddenly groaned, and a look of bewildered shock was on his face. I looked down to see Daryl had crawled over to him. He was kneeling in front of him holding a knife that he must have got from Grey, it was buried up to the hilt in Len's groin. Len fell to the ground and Daryl straddled him and began slamming the knife down repeatedly into his groin.

Anton strode over to me, and cut the binds from my wrists and ankles with a knife. The raw skin on my wrists and ankles stung as the rope fibres pulled away. I pushed myself off the table almost collapsing as I placed weight on my weak legs and injured ankle. My ruined underwear fell to the floor and I kicked them off and away. I couldn't care about modesty at that point.

I moved over to Daryl. He was still stabbing at Len's groin, reaching the knife high above his head and slamming it down hard into his lower abdomen area. With every turn, the knife was getting deeper and deeper into the mess of blood, and guts until I heard it clanging on the concrete beneath him. The next time he lifted the knife I could see the blade had snapped off and now Daryl was just pummelling him with his fists clenched over the hilt. He was covered in blood and he was flinging mess and guts all over the room, all over me and Anton and the other dead bodies in the room. I could see he was being lost to madness.

"Daryl!" I called out to him. I was trying to get closer without being hit by his upward thrusts.

He didn't seem to hear.

"Daryl." I repeated.

"Daryl…"


	8. Clean

**AN: I used 'mom' instead of 'mum'. teehee**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter IIX  
**

**Clean**

"Daryl."

That voice was familiar. It was Beth's voice, but she was gone, a car had taken her...No I found her again, they had her tied down and they were going to rape her...No they had been stopped. Was she here with me now?

I could hear the repeated thud, I could feel the sticky wetness all over my hands and face. I could see red, everywhere was red. He was dead, I had killed him. At least for now.

I let my fingers release what I had been holding and driving down into the lifeless body, and it fell to the ground. No blade. I had broken it.

I turned towards the sound of her voice and took in the sight of her face. It was red and swollen, and wet with tears and she was saying something to me. I looked at her lips.

"Daryl."

"Beth?" I felt the word come from my mouth, but I weren't entirely sure it was me who said it.

I looked her up and down taking in her dirty skin, the red welts around her ankles and wrists, her lack of underpants and the harsh reality set in. I shook my winged vest off my shoulders and wrapped it around her waist and then I pulled her down to hold her.

I was cradling her in my arms and rocking back and forth like I was holding Lil' ass kicker. My face was pressed into her hair, taking in the familiar scent and her face was sobbing in to my shoulder. We were both sobbing.

"We gotta go." Said an unfamiliar voice.

I looked up to see one of Joe's men standing over me. The young black guy, what was his name? Anton? He was holding a bundle of clothing out towards me. Dirty and bloody. I recognised Beth's dirty knitted sweater, stained yellow tee and her torn jeans.

I reached out and took the clothes from him, and then shifted Beth off me and helped her to get dressed.

Anton moved over to the door and put his back against the wall peering carefully outside.

"We need to get a move on, the others could be back at any time."

My hands were trembling so much that I was struggling to help Beth with her clothes, and she was trembling and sobbing so much that she was being no help to me at all.

"We're lucky that we had been forced so far out to hunt, or else they would have heard all the commotion and come runnin'." Anton was shifting around on his feet nervously.

It had been quite a trek back to the warehouse. When I left the others, none of them had caught anything, with any luck we still had time to get everything together and get out of here.

When I had finally pulled her clothes on I searched for her boots and socks which were in a crate by the side of the table along with all the other vis and pieces she carried around. I pulled one boot on, but when I tried to pull on the other over her injured ankle she cried out in pain, so I decided to leave it off.

Anton was motioning for us to go to the door. I didn't know what his motives were for helping us out. I'm sure if he hadn't, both of us would be dead, or worse, so I was grateful in a way. But the mere fact that he had been with these guys made me wary of having him around us.

"You ain't comin' with us." I asserted.

He gave an amused laugh.

"You ain't gonna get far without me, there more of them out there, and I sure as hell ain't stayin' here."

I didn't like the idea, I didn't know nothing about the guy, but he had just saved our lives, so maybe that was worth something. I would need his help to get away, and Beth was in no state to be fighting. I guess he could tag along for a bit, if he turned out shifty it wouldn't take much to get rid of him later down the track.

"How many walkers you killed?" I asked.

He looked like he was confused by the suddenness and nature of the question. I remembered what Joe had called the walkers.

"How many freaks?"

"I dunno. hundreds. Thousands?"

"How many people you killed?"

He turned and pointed to the body of the man he had shot on the ground.

"Just one."

"Why?" I really did want to know the answer to that one.

"To save your ass." He chuckled a little, like there was something amusing about it. I scowled at him and the smile left his face.

"He had it comin'." He added.

I nodded at his response, it still didn't give me a clear idea of his motives, but he obviously didn't have any loyalty to these guys, and that was a start.

I fumbled around the room grabbing at what I might need, some food, water, some rope and shoved it into my bag. I took Beth's trembling arm over my shoulder and walked over to my Stryker and picked it up. I put it over my shoulder and went to take Beth again but she pulled herself away from me, she turned around to look back at the warehouse like she had forgotten something.

"We gotta do somethin' before we go." She said in a weak voice.

She raised her hand and pointed at a table that had been next to hers. It was covered by a dark cloth.

"What is it?" I asked.

Anton cautiously walked over to the table and pulled back the cloth.

There on the table tied down just the way Beth had been was a naked female walker.

"Holy lord Jesus in heaven!" Breathed Anton, as he looked down on her.

I took a few steps forward to get a closer look. It wasn't a walker after all, it was a woman who had the shit beaten out of her, she looked like she had been tortured too and most likely raped. There was a fair amount of dried blood between her legs. My stomach lurched as I thought about what could have happened to Beth.

"Help me untie her." I said as I moved towards the ropes on her wrists.

"No Daryl." Beth objected. She was standing back and staring at the woman with a haunted expression on her face.

"You wanna leave her?" That wasn't like Beth, she was the most humane person I knew.

"She don't wanna come with us."

I looked at Beth and then back at the woman. I looked at her face, there was no life there. Her eyes turned to mine and gave me the look of someone who wanted to die.

I looked back to Beth again, she was nodding encouragingly, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. I turned and cocked my Stryker ready to send a bolt into the woman's head and end her suffering.

Before I could pull the trigger, Anton pushed his handgun to the woman's temple, shot and splashed her brains over the table.

"That's two." Said Anton pointing at the woman's dead body.

* * *

After an hour of carrying Beth, my back was aching something fierce. I had to keep stopping to lift her in to a better position and she finally convinced me to put her down and let her limp along, while I took most of her weight on my shoulders. I checked back to see black smoke billowing into the air from the warehouse fire. We had made good distance.

I had wanted to take one of the cars in the warehouse, But Anton had told us they were all dry. The car they had most recently brought in had the gas line snapped when some idiot had been checking it over. It had emptied the gas all over the warehouse floor. I was pissed we had lost a method of transport, but used the opportunity to set light to the place and burn the motherfucker down.

We had scavenged the place beforehand grabbing what little had been left behind by Joe's crew. Anton had claimed a few rounds of ammo for his handgun, and I had grabbed the shotgun even though it only had one round left. I had also managed to find some bandages that I would use to rebind Beth's ankle when we had stopped.

We didn't really have a set course of direction, just running the opposite way from where Joe's crew had been hunting. I knew that the warehouse fire would have called them back home, and only hoped they weren't able to track us back into the woods.

When night came we decided to stop and make camp. Not trusting Anton that first night I had kept watch. Beth had been curled into a ball with her head in my lap, holding my hand to her chest, while I stoked the fire with a stick in my other hand. Even though I had urged her to get some sleep, every time I looked down on her face her eyes were wide open.

"She ain't your daughter is she?"

Dawn was near, and Anton had woken and was watching me looking down on Beth's face.

"No." I admitted.

"I figured as much. Think Len knew it too, he was just messin' with your head."

Anton sat up and stretched and groaned and cracked his neck.

"She your woman?"

He was probing for information I wasn't willing to give, so I just grunted.

"Were you together – before?"

I didn't reply.

"Probably not, she don't look too old. That would have been right messed up back then."

I glared up at him.

"But things are different now you know –it's cool." He gave a casual shrug.

If this guy didn't keep his mouth shut he was likely to get his head knocked off.

"How you guys meet anyway? Seem like an unlikely pair."

I grunted in response. _Get the clue fucker, I don't want to talk about this shit with you._

"You must have helped her out right? You take care of her, and she take care of you?" He had a lecherous grin on his face. Brave bastard. Brave and incredibly stupid.

I slipped Beth gently of my lap and stood up ready to confront him.

"You shut your mothafuckin' mouth, 'fore I knock them pretty white teeth out." I said poking my finger into the air between us.

He held his hands up defensively and leant backwards.

"It's cool man, just making conversation."

Beth was now propped up on her hands watching the exchange, her brow furrowed in concern.

"Well conversate about somethin' else" I suggested angrily, making my way back to Beth, dropping myself in to the dirt and putting her head back in my lap.

I hated the fucker, I hated his good looks. I hated the way he strutted around like he was king pin in fantasy land. I hated his friendly voice and chatty words. I especially hated the fact that we wouldn't be here chatting at all if it hadn't have been for his intervention.

"How about we talk about why you were with those sick fucks." I suggested.

"Why were you with 'em?." He retorted.

I had thought that Joe seemed like a fairly decent guy, I was grateful that he didn't just kill me and take my gear when he had the opportunity, but I don't think I could get passed the fact that he let his crew do what they did, and I wasn't sure I could get passed the fact that Anton also stood by with it.

"Survival. Strength in numbers." He added when I didn't reply.

"You couldn't survive without em?"

"I did, for near on three years, out there on my own. Freaks – ah, walkers at every turn, sometimes I had to run from huge hordes of them, sometimes going for three days without sleep, no one else to keep watch. Scared I would collapse and have some walker munching on me when I woke up."

Now Beth spoke up, it was the first time she had made a sound since we first left the warehouse.

"We've all had to do some pretty awful things to survive." She reasoned. "Anton's a good person, Daryl. I think he's proven that to us."

It wasn't proof enough for me, but the fact that she still believed in good people gave me hope that she would be able to recover from the shit she had just experienced. I decided to let up on Anton for her sake.

After a breakfast of canned beans, we left our little camp and moved deeper into the woods. I figured if we walked long enough we would eventually come across a road or something and be able to plan our next move from there.

Anton loved the sound of his own voice. He chatted about his life during the day, and at night when I took my turn to sleep he would hum tunes to himself.

He had been a college boy for a couple of years studying something to do with engineering, but his dad had died and he couldn't keep up with the tuition so he had taken a job with the navy, allowing him to complete his degree while serving.

He had been over in Kings Bay training at the sub bays when all this had hit. He had tried making his way back home to his Mom but after a year of wandering around and seeing all the terrible things he had seen he decided he didn't want to go home knowing his mom most likely didn't make it out alive.

The basic survival training he had with the navy had given him enough skills to keep himself alive out in the woods, and he claimed he had never found another group of survivors to stay with until Joe had found him. Joe had been impressed with his weapons knowledge and ability to take orders, and had invited him to stay with the group.

I saw his prowess myself when we came across a group of walkers a day later. When I had spotted them I had shifted Beth of my shoulders and put her to the ground. I pulled out the shotgun from my backpack ready to take them on.

There had been six walkers, and Anton had made five shots, hitting them all dead centre in the forehead. I shot the last one, and then tossed the gun, knowing I wouldn't find ammo anytime soon. He had holstered his weapon grinning with pride, and I had felt my lips curl up in a smile, even though I was sure I still hated his guts.

* * *

It was a couple days after leaving the warehouse that we came across a grove of Pecan trees. It had been a relief to see a new sight as I was sure we had just been going in circles for some of that time. I had let Anton lead the way, so I could see to Beth, and even though he was a seaman he clearly wasn't the best navigator.

It was after dusk and in the dim light I could make out a couple of wood panelled buildings beat up and overgrown with vines. There were two walkers strolling around in the distance who hadn't picked up on our presence yet, we weren't about to alert them neither, so we picked up the pace and moved on to our new destination.

There was a barbed wire fence surrounding the home, which would be handy at keeping the walkers out. Anton lifted and moved a post across so Beth and I could get through and then he pushed the post back in to the earth behind us.

The main house was rather large, big enough for a family. There was a worn out picket fence that stretched half way around. I thought of Beth's joke about picket fences, and thought about how for a second we thought we might have been happy back at that funeral home. Anton's feet crunching the ground behind me reminded me that if something was too good to be true, it wasn't worth dreaming about.

As we walked up to the porch I noticed freshly turned earth in the garden. I would say they were graves judging by the makeshift crucifixes standing over them. And the neat bunches of yellow flowers placed on top. I was glad for the darkness and of having Beth's face tucked into my chest when I recognised the small size of the graves and a pair of baby's booties hanging from one of the crucifixes. She would have thought of Lil' ass kicker just as I was.

Anton offered to go ahead and check out the house since he had the flashlight and I stayed holding Beth out on the porch. After a few moments he came out stating it was clear.

The sight of the wooden crib inside the home only confirmed to me that a baby had died there. And there was an old rag doll left by the fire, telling me the other graves must have been for children. Beth's eyes rested on the crib sadly and I knew I hadn't spared her the painful memory after all.

The living room looked as if it had been used recently, there was plenty of firewood by the fireplace and the soot was fresh. There was a half attempted puzzle spread out on the table. There were lanterns spotted all over the place and they smelt as if they had been recently lit. I wondered who had been here and if they planned on coming back anytime soon.

I took Beth down the hall in to the nearest bedroom. It had a large window with white netted curtains. Even though it was dark now, I knew she would enjoy the sun when it came up.

I lowered Beth carefully down on the bed, and then lit the lamp on the bedside table. I lifted Beth's feet up, and I took her one boot off and brushed some of the dirt from her other foot, being careful not to move her ankle around too much. I took the opportunity to wrap up her ankle in the fresh bandage and then rested it back on to the bed. Then I got up to leave her.

"You get some sleep, I gotta check this place out." I ordered, while backing towards the door.

She shot herself up and glared at me with a bewildered look.

"You can't leave me." She protested.

"Won't be far, just be outside, you call and I'll come runnin'."

She didn't look convinced.

"You need to get some shut eye. You've barely slept the last few days"

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep." She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.

"Just try to rest then." I suggested.

I scoped out the rest of the house with my Stryker drawn, not sure on how well I could trust Anton's scouting. I went into the room next to Beth, it was hard to see by the light from Beth's bedroom but I found a lantern inside and lit it. It was a bathroom, and it had been recently used judging by the lack of dust. I used the toilet and then checked out the flush. No running water. There was also an old cast iron bath with big brass feet.

I made my way out in to the living area. Anton was sitting on the couch. He had got the fire started in the fireplace and now had his feet up boots removed as if he had just come home from a hard day's work. I half expected him to ask me to start rubbing his feet. He smiled up at me as I entered, and I scowled back. The thought of playing happy families with him and Beth made my skin crawl.

I moved on into the kitchen, and found another lantern to light. The kitchen was relatively free of dust and the smell of roasted pecans still loomed in the air. I checked out the stove and found it still had gas connected to it. That would come in handy.

When I was satisfied with what the house had to offer. I went back into the room where Beth was. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes darkened with fatigue, but still wide open.

"I told you to get some rest." I scolded as I put my Stryker down.

"I can't." She said shakily. "I keep thinking I'm going to open my eyes and wake up back in that warehouse."

I walked over to her and dropped myself on the bed beside her.

"You don't need to think 'bout that. Len and those other fuckers are dead, there's good distance between us and the rest o 'em, and if you trust Anton then we don't have nothin' to worry 'bout."

Beth looked doubtful.

"Do you trust Anton?" I asked.

Beth pursed her lips in thought.

"He saved our lives, on a couple of different occasions now. He has no obligation to us, I think he's just a good guy who got caught up with the wrong people"

I knew all about that. But I still wasn't sure that was a good enough reason to trust him, but if Beth was comfortable with it, I was happy enough for now.

I shifted on the bed, and she clutched at my arm, she must have thought I was going again.

"Can you stay with me?" She pleaded looking up at me with her big blue eyes.

"Sure I can." I didn't think I would ever be able to leave her again.

* * *

She didn't sleep well that night, although I tried to, I kept waking up to her shifting in the bed. I tried holding her tightly, but she still wriggled about. I thought about trying my special tactics for getting her to relax, but my better judgement thought it was not something I should be bringing up at this time.

The light coming through the window woke me up at dawn. I sat up and stretched and yawned and then looked down on Beth. She still had her eyes wide open.

"You sleep at all last night?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Is there anythin' I can do?" I asked. I wished she could just tell me something, anything. I felt so helpless.

She shook her head again.

My stomach started grumbling and my thoughts slipped from sleep to food.

"You hungry?" I asked.

She shook her head again. That had to be a lie, the last thing I had eaten was the beans and she had hardly eaten any.

"I'mma get you some food." I got up grabbed my Stryker and went out to see what I could find.

* * *

Anton was already up and moving about the kitchen, I went in to see what he was doing.

"Mornin'." He called cheerfully when I walked in, like we were on some kind of daytime soap. All he was missing was the frilly apron. I tried to force a smile at him, and nodded a good morning.

There was a pleasant smell coming from the oven.

"You cookin' somethin'?"

"Yep, went out there early and bagged us a rabbit. Not too big, but enough for all of us."

Well wasn't that just fucking perfect.

"Great." I said with false enthusiasm and stormed out the kitchen. Flipping the bird to him, when he turned his back.

Outside in the daylight I could see things more clearly now. The pecan trees surrounded the home, and the ground was littered with nuts. They would be a nice change from canned food and game, might even help keep scurvy away. I would ask Beth to come and help me collect some after breakfast.

There were several flower gardens around the house that were neatly tended. I looked up to see the two walkers still wandering around in the distance and wondered if they had lived at this house.

While walking around the house I also spotted a well pump with a couple of iron buckets stacked up neatly against it, I went over and gave the pump a few presses. I splashed my face with the cool fresh water that made its way out, and gave my vest a bit of a rub, worried I might ruin it, but wanting to get some of the blood off, and then I had an idea.

* * *

It had taken a while carting the water back in the buckets, boiling it on the stove in the big pots and putting it in the bath. Anton had watched me moving back and forth with a puzzled look on his face. Eventually he offered to help me, but I told him I would do it on my own. When the water was several inches deep I decided it was ready.

I went out to talk to Anton, hoping I could encourage him to give Beth some privacy while she relaxed. I found him outside looking at the flowers.

"Think you could give Beth and I a bit of alone time?"

He turned towards me, and a sheepish grin was on his face. I knew what he was thinking, but I didn't plan on it happening.

"Yeah I guess so, what you want me to do out here?"

I looked around at the place.

"You could fix that fence up." I said gesturing to the barbed wire fence that had fallen over and curled up on itself.

"Get us some nuts." I gestured to the nuts on the floor of the grove.

"Or just keep lookin' at the flowers." I pointed to the yellow flowers in front of him, then I turned and walked back to the house before he had a chance to respond.

* * *

Beth was still sitting on the bed staring at her plate of Rabbit thigh. It was in the same position I had left it in earlier that morning.

I walked over to her and scooped her up off the bed.

"What are you doing?" she squealed gripping my shirt tightly.

"I got a surprise."

I carried her into the bathroom and put her down, she turned around and looked at the bath. I felt my heart flutter a little when I saw her smiling again.

"You remembered." She cried, dipping her hands into the water.

"What can I say. I'm a romantic." I was joking; although I knew what I had just done would probably be considered romantic.

She was still standing there staring at the bath, I thought maybe she was needing some encouragement so I helped her get undressed. I came at her from behind, and slipped my hands under her sweater and pulled it over her head. She giggled a bit when her tee and singlet got caught over her head and I helped her to pull them off too. Then she pushed her hands up her back and undid her bra, slipped it off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

My dick jumped in my pants like it had just got an unexpected surprise.

_Get a hold of yourself Daryl, you don't want to bone her, you want to help her heal._

She thumbed into her jeans and then slipped them down and off, pushing her bare ass out towards me in the process. This was going to be tough.

I tried my best not to stare at her ass and tits while she lowered herself in the water. When she let out a groan of relief, I almost let out a groan of frustration to meet it.

_Think of Grandma._

Then the dumbass side of my brain kicked in and I decided to take off my shirt and help her to wash. It was 'cause I didn't want it to get wet though. That was what I told myself anyways.

I had found some soap that looked handmade and a clean looking washcloth. I lathered up the cloth and ran it up her arms and over her shoulders, rubbing and scrubbing and massaging in to her skin. I squeezed the cloth and let the warm water roll down her shoulders and down over her chest and then fall in between her tits. I attempted to tear my eyes away as the large droplets rolled down and clung to the end of her nipples.

_Grandma, Grandma, Grandma._

She rested her head back in the bath and closed her eyes and let out a long and deep sigh, and I continued to torture myself rubbing the cloth over her body, down into the water over her belly and up her thighs to her bent knees and down the calf of the foot in the water. The other foot with the bandage was resting on the edge of the bath. I draped the cloth over the foot on her uninjured side and pulled it out of the water and began massaging in between her toes.

She let out another soft groan, and I looked back at her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful and pleased. The water was beading all over her face shoulders and chest, and my dick was throbbing.

_Grandma, Daryl! Fucking Grandma!_

"You feel better?" I finally managed to ask, when I had gained some control over my breathing.

"Yeah." She said opening one eye and peering at me.

"It is getting a bit cold though."

I put my hand back in the water, it was lukewarm, I had probably spent more time than I realised rubbing all over her body, lost in my thoughts of not fucking her.

"You wanna get out?" I asked.

She opened her eyes and sat up.

"I think I should before I start looking like Grandma."

I laughed internally at her comparison.

I got a towel for her and wrapped it around her while I helped her out of the bath. I rubbed her down to dry her off, rubbing over her tits and then down to her ankles drawing my hand up her legs and inbetween her thighs. I damn near had to beat myself upside the head, fighting the urge to lean forward and place a kiss there.

_The girl was just damn near gang raped and all you can think about is boning_ _her_? _Dumbass_.

Making a quick retreat, I stood up and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. I tossed her clothes into the water along with my own blood stained shirt, thinking I would give it a scrub later.

_I thought you didn't want to get your shirt wet? _

Shut the fuck up, brain.

I led Beth back to the room and passed her a relatively clean sweater I had found in the room. It was too large for her, but I would need to wash her clothes and it would be warmer than a wet towel.

She pulled it over her head and lay back down on the bed. I think she looked just as sexy in that oversized sweater, laying back on that bed, as she did laying naked in the Bath.

"Think you can sleep now?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Will you hold me? - til I fall asleep."

Just hold her?

_Damn girl, you're asking me to do the impossible._

**AN: I have to apologise. Ffnet isn't letting me upload anymore chapters...hopefully I'll figure it out soon.**


	9. Duets

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter VI**

**Duets**

**AN: Clichés clichés, so many clichés.**

I watched over my shoulder as Daryl toed out of his boots and crawled into the bed behind me. He put his warm and heavy arm over mine, and pulled me in to the comforting curve of his body. The warmth and smell of him enveloped me, dragging me into a welcome sense of safety. I wished I wasn't wearing the sweater so I could feel the touch of his skin against mine. It seemed like forever since we had held each other while naked.

He started stroking his hands along my arms and made his way down to my forearms and then along my wrists. He trailed his fingers over my wristbands and over the bumpy ridges of the scar from where I had cut myself with the piece of broken mirror back at the farm. I flinched away slightly at the touch, not because it hurt, but because no one had ever touched me there before.

"Does that still hurt?" He asked.

"No, not for a long time." I replied.

"I didn't mean the scar, I meant losin' your mom, losin' your family?"

I let out a long thoughtful sigh. "I know what you meant Daryl."

It had been two years since I had lost the farm, lost my mom, my brothers and Jimmy. It hurt like hell at first, but then I learnt to just continue on with life, you had to let the past go or it would just consume you. I would always think of them, but the pain was gone. The pain of losing my dad and Maggie however was still lingering.

I pulled away from him a little and rolled over to face him, propping my hand under my head and looking down on him.

"Roll over." I instructed.

He raised a curious eyebrow at me, most likely clueless of my intentions, and then obligingly rolled over exposing his broad and muscled back to me.

I closely inspected his tattoos. Two winged demons reaching out for each other. I wondered what it had meant. Maybe it was supposed to represent him and Merle, the older brother pulling the younger to the darkness. It porbably didnt mean anything as sentimental as that. It was more likely to be something he got when he was younger under the pressure of Merle.

I looked over the pinkish ridges that were lined all over his back, and gently ran my fingers along them, tracing them like they were a connect the dot. I wondered how they had happened. A whip or a belt, or maybe a switch. They were too deliberate to be from some kind of hunting accident.

"I don't think you ever told me how you got these."

His shoulders suddenly tensed and I stopped tracing the lines.

"Was my dad." He finally said.

The words sounded new to him, like he had never spoken them before.

"Your dad did this?"

"Mmm hmm." He mumbled.

"Does it still hurt?" I asked, wondering if he would know I meant it the same way he did. His shoulders rose as he took in a deep breath and then blew it out slowly.

"No" He replied calmly. Was he telling the truth? Could he get over that kind of abuse so easily?

"Took me a while to realise it, but my dad was jus' some sad, old drunk who liked to beat up on weak kids. He was pathetic. As I got older I just pitied him. I didn't hate him. I dont really think about it, and when I do it doesn't hurt. It's just somethin' in my past, that happened and I can't do nothin' about it."

Was that the truth? Or was that Daryl pushing his feelings away.

Daryl had a lot of scars. Some of them he had got from when I had known him, some of them were older. I traced over the smaller circular scar that was on his side. That had been from back at the farm. He had taken Nervous Nelly out and she had thrown him down a cliff and he had managed to shoot himself with a crossbow bolt.

He had a large scar on his forehead just below his hairline. That was from back at the prison when we were trying to clear away pallets to give the kids space to play. One had fallen and caught him in the head. It was a deep cut and daddy had to stitch him up.

There were deep scars on his forearm, where he claimed he had got in to a fight with a bobcat while hunting. He said he had won, but he didn't bring the bobcat home. I wasn't sure I would be too keen on eating bobcat meat anyway.

He had scars littered all over his face, over his abdomen on his arms. I started rubbing every one of them wondering where they had come from.

"If you're gonna ask me the story behind all my scars, I'm gonna have to go back out there and hunt some more, to stockpile for the winter."

"I guess the pain heals in time, but the scars never go away." I said softly, putting to words my earlier thoughts.

Now I was thinking about the more raw pain that was still fresh on my body around my wrists and ankles, and in my memories of what had happened, and what could have happened, back at the warehouse. There was an emptiness inside me, that I felt the urgent need to be filled, and I felt as if it could only be filled by Daryl.

"Time helps." Daryl agreed with me. He was watching my face and probably reading my thoughts again.

I ran my hand over his waist touching the bundles of muscle that grew down over his hips reaching down below into his jeans. I moved my hands up to the front of his abdomen, feeling the firm muscle covered with a soft layer of cushioning, then up to his chest and tangled my fingers through the fine greying hairs there. I pushed myself through my sweater in to his back imagining the touch of his skin against my breasts. I dropped my head down and gently placed a kiss on the warm skin of his shoulder. My mind was completely gone from the pain of the warehouse and it was now focused on the pulsating heat developing between my legs.

"You can help." I breathed into his neck, hoping he would get the message of what I wanted, and not be scared to give it to me.

He rolled back against me and I shifted out of the way. He wrapped his arm under my neck and put his hand to my shoulder and pulled me down so my head was rested in the crook of his neck.

"I can try". He replied. But the way he was gently stroking my shoulder made me think he didn't quite know what I was implying.

I reached my hand over to his shoulder and squeezed on to the firm muscle. I wrapped my leg around his waist and pushed myself in against his hip. The pressure of his body against mine released some of the tension that was building down below, but not all of it. I lifted my face to his and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, and pulled away to speak to him.

"I need you to help me now." I whispered.

His eyes widened, and I think he finally go the message.

"I think -" he started.

_Don't you dare reject me now Daryl Dixon._

"You think what?" I said trying not to sound hurt.

"I think we need more time for that too."

That was not the response I was looking for, but I half expected it. Daryl was rough around the edges, but he was an honourable and respectful man. However there was a part of me that thought he just didn't want to touch me - because Len had been so close.

"You don't want me anymore?" I said looking down on his face.

"No it's not that."

I pulled away from him and rolled on my back staring up at the ceiling and trying not to cry like a spoilt child who had lost her favourite toy. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down on my face.

My eyes glanced over to him and I could feel the tears starting to brim. I was ruined in his eyes, what we had for such a short time was lost.

"It is that." I said quietly. "You don't want to touch me after you saw me with - him." I gave a gulp.

He reached over and stroked my cheek, then cupped it in his hand and turned my face towards his.

"I don't - but not for the reasons you're thinkin'."

"What reason then?" I could feel my eyes glaring. _Be gently Beth, it's not his fault._

"Don't think what you want will help none. Think it might make it worse."

"How could it?"

"Dunno, maybe it'll bring it all back to you. The way you felt - then."

I screwed up my face thinking about what I felt then. It was not how I felt now. There was no yearning, there were not pangs of desire growing in my belly and screaming for release between my legs.

"Nothing really happened back there. It was a horrible experience, but it could have been worse. - Even if it was worse it wouldn't be the same as what we had." I tried to reassure him.

He lowered his eyes.

"What happened back there wasn't sex. It was just him trying to take something away from me, my dignity, my worth."

I took his hand, that was holding my cheek, in both of my hands and began rubbing my fingers along it, over his palm up his own fingers and in between them.

"You _give_ me something Daryl. You give me comfort, you give me hope, you make me happy."

Deliriously happy.

"I want you to make love to me." I suggested, letting the words slip of my tongue as if they were satin on silk.

I saw him flinch a little.

I knew that it was the wrong phrase to use, Daryl didn't have much experience with the word, and even though what I had meant was just to have sex, he was reading more in to it.

He caught his breath as if he was going to say something, but changed his mind.

I waited for his response.

"I don't know how." He finally confided.

I raised my brows in amusement.

"You don't know how?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not really."

"Well what were you doing before?" I asked, my face twisted in confusion.

He lowered his eyes a little, and it was confirmed to me that he did think I was talking about love. I had never really loved anyone before. Except in a platonic way. But I guessed it would feel something like what I felt for Daryl. I was pleased that he wasn't trying to deny me or push me away. Maybe he was feeling the same way about me, but with his history there was no way he would know how to show it.

"Maybe that's something that_ I_ can teach _you._" I suggested, as I reached up and stroked along his jawline and his chin, rubbing my fingers through the coarse hair on his face.

"You're less experienced than me." He pointed out.

"Not in how to love."

His wide eyed look told me that he understood what I meant.

I ran my hands through his hair until my fingers were touching at the back of his head and then urged his face down to my mouth. His breath was warm and familiar, and the bitter taste of him was exhilarating.

He ran his own hands over my shoulder and down my arms to my waist, over my backside and down to my thighs. He pushed his hands under my sweater, grabbing the bottom of it and tugging it up. I lifted my body up and helped him to take it over my head and then throw it to the floor. I went straight back to kissing him. Pressing my breasts against his chest, and relished in the searing sensation of his flesh against mine. He let out a shallow groan and I knew he felt it too.

I ran my hands over his shoulders and back, running my fingers along the raised scars back and forth, rubbing him firmly and pulling him in to my arms. My strokes made their way down to his lower back and then my fingers tucked down the back of his jeans slipping in between the denim, and grasping his firm backside in my hand and giving it a squeeze. My hand then slipped around to the front and brushed against the end of him. I lingered there for a moment. Exploratively I pressing my thumb over the smooth bulbous end, and then started stroking down the shaft. He groaned into my mouth, and I laughed gently back in to his.

I started working on his belt, pulling it open and loosening it in the loops. I fumbled with the button and fly of his jeans while he stroked along my backside and over my thighs. He lightly skimmed over the hot, wet spot between my legs, tickling me and making me squirm in delight.

I forced his shoulder down on to the bed and then rolled to kneel beside him and started tugging down on his jeans. He helped me to pull them down, off his legs and then toss them aside.

I wrapped a hand around his shaft and then leant in to kiss him. He ran his hand along my back and to my backside, pulling me towards him. I was giving him firm, long strokes, and he had grown rock solid in my hand. I wanted him inside me, and I thought I would lose my mind if I waited anymore.

"Girl, you best stop pullin' on me or it'll be over before it's started." He cautioned.

He had obviously been thinking the same thing as me.

I threw my leg over and then guided him to my entrance, letting out a moan as he pushed himself inside, gliding through my wetness. My muscles gripped deliciously around him, and I felt them spasm in desire.

He was looking up at me holding on to my thighs that were straddled over him. I was grinding my hips around relishing in the sensation of him moving around inside me. He ran his hands up over my waist and to my ribs and then placed them over my breasts, and rubbed them firmly but gently.

I lent down to kiss him, and placed my arms under his shoulders and started pulling him up, wanting him to be close to me. He gave into my pressure and sat up moving his hands back to my waist. I shifted my legs wrapping them around his waist, while I sat connected to him in his lap.

He was kissing my collar bone and neck and I had my head arched back groaning in pleasure. When I had gained some kind of control over my body I pulled his face away and held it in-between my hands. I wanted to see his face, look into his eyes, make sure that he was here with me, and stop myself from going back to the bad place I had been in before.

"Look at me." I murmured.

He did as he was told with an initial look of childlike uncertainly on his face, that eventually gave way to a look of yearning and desire. I let out a groan as the intense look he gave me sent a new type of thrill through my body. The way his face was gently contorting around the eyes and lips was delectably tantalizing.

I continued to grind my hips around, rolling myself over his hips. He had a firm hold of my back, supporting the weight of my upper body. I was moaning and he was groaning and we were both fighting the urge to squeeze our eyes shut.

I finally gave in and closed my own eyes and mashed my lips into his, forcing my tongue into his mouth. He did the same while thrusting his hips upwards meeting with my rolls.

I was moaning uncontrollably into his mouth and he moved his lips away gasping for air, then resting them on my cheek. I could feel that tears had rolled down from my eyes, and he was pressing his lips against them and touching them lightly with his tongue.

Our bodies had got into a synchronised motion, rolling and grinding together. Our hands rubbing all over each other, our faces cheek to cheek, our mouths moaning into each others ear.

I could feel him starting to throb inside me, and I thought he had lost control for a moment, but then he threw himself back on the bed, pulling me forward with him, and pushing my legs out to the side. He let out a loud groan and I felt the warmness spurting over my backside.

I collapsed on top of him, my head in the crook of his neck. We were both panting and sweating and placing firm strokes over each others bodies. He reached down to grab the covers and he rubbed them along my backside and then pushed the covers to the side. My panting became softer and the movement of my hands began to slow, my breathing began to regulate and my body gave way to sleep, listening to the soft thumping of his heart.

* * *

I woke up to the darkness. It had been the best sleep I had had in days, but my body still felt a little achy and tired. I reached out looking for Daryl so I could curl back into his warmth, but my hand just landed on cold bed sheets.

In the dim light I searched around for the oversized sweater Daryl had found for me and pulled it over my head. I pulled on my socks that were stuffed in to my boots by the side of the bed, being careful with my ankle, which was starting to feel better thanks to Daryl's excellent binding skills.

I limped carefully out of the room and out in to the living area. Daryl was out there sitting by the fire, eyes closed and head tilted back with a light snore escaping his lips. The light from the fire was dancing across his naked chest. His legs were bare too, but he had a towel wrapped around his waist. Our clothes were spread out on the floor by his feet in front of the fire to dry. I went to move over to him to wake him and ask him to come back to the bedroom, but then I noticed the dark figure of Anton standing outside on the porch looking out in to the moonlight.

I decided it was high time I thanked him for everything he had done.

I pushed open the screen door which creaked loudly. Anton turned to face me, and I cautiously pushed the door out further hoping I didn't disturb Daryl with the sound. I ducked through the opening and then eased it back to a close.

"So the dead has risen." Anton said with a grin spreading over his face. He raised his eyebrows in amusement at his own words. "Sorry, bad joke." He chortled.

"Daryl been sleepin' long?" I asked as I approached him and leant over the balustrading of the porch.

"Not so long. He came out of the room a few hours back. Had something to eat, shelled some pecans for you for when you woke up" He thumbed over his shoulder towards the door, indicating to where my pecans must be. "He messed around with that bow of his, sharpened his knife, set up a fire, went and scrubbed them jeans in the bathroom, sat down in the chair and _then_ passed out."

"He must be exhausted." I said to myself. I tried to remember how often he had slept over the last few days. I knew that every time I tossed and turned I had woken him, and I had been tossing and turning a lot. On top of that he had been taking shifts through the night alternating with Anton so he would never really have a whole night's sleep anyway. I wondered how much sleep Anton had during the time we were trudging through the woods.

"Thank you." I blurted out without precursor.

He looked down on me, perhaps waiting for more.

"- For helping us out. I know it was dangerous."

"Don't mention it." He said casually, waving his hand dismissively.

"Don't think I could have done it if I didn't have the help of your man there." He tilted his head back towards the house.

I looked down into the garden and started rubbing my thumbs together nervously. I wasn't even sure if Daryl was my man. After all we had been through, we had never really talked about it, and I didn't think Daryl was the type who wanted to have that type of discussion.

"He is your man right?" Anton queried. He must have been reading my body language.

I kept my eyes downcast thinking more about what the answer was.

"'Cause you know, I walked out there - must have been for miles." He said motioning to the surrounding property.

"And I could still hear you." He started chuckling. I blushed at his brazen reference to my sexual activity.

"Had to hold off the walkers who came runnin'." He was still beaming like he found it all very amusing.

"Stop." I said playfully. I found it quite interesting and a little unnerving that he could talk about such things without showing the least bit of discomfort.

"He takes care of you?" He asked.

"He does. He takes very good care of me."

"Is that why? Do you feel like you owe him somethin'?"

"No!" I said, incredulously.

"I just wonder why a young pretty girl like you would go for old Ebenezer in there."

I went for him for a number of reasons. Because he was family to me, and he made me feel safe. Because he was hopelessly loyal, and I knew I would always be able to rely on him. Because he was crazy sexy with his broad shoulders and well-toned arms, even the way he brooded and scowled was becoming a turn on.

A big part of my attraction to him was because he had taken such good care of me, but did I fell like I owed him? That wasn't why I wanted to be with him, was it? Now Anton had me questioning my own feelings towards Daryl. It made me horribly uncomfortable.

"Let's not talk about it anymore." I suggested.

"Okay." He agreed.

We stood in an uncomfortable silence listening to the night.

It was unnaturally quiet on that night, I couldn't hear anything. Not the rustle of the wind in the trees, or the distant growls of walkers, no cicadas, no frogs.

"It's so calm - so still." I finally said breaking the silence.

Anton gave a low chuckle and then he started humming to himself.

The hum graduated into a doo wup, and then I picked up on the tune and added in my own voice.

In the still of the night  
I held you, held you tight

He dropped the doo wop and started harmonising in with my own voice.

'Cause I love, love you so  
Promise I'll never let you go  
In the still of the night

It seemed like such a cliché thing, singing that song in the still of the night, but I was grateful for the distraction.

"Wow you're a really good singer." I told him. He was amazingly good. He had the type of voice that sent chills through your body and left your skin all goose-pimpled.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."

"It's not usually my style, but everyone knows Boys to men." It was a well-known song, but I only knew who sang it because Maggie liked them when she was younger.

He chuckled to himself, like he knew an inside joke.

"It's Five Satins, not Boys to men." He advised with a hint of gloating.

I flushed a little, ashamed that I didn't know who the original artist of the song was, given my musical background.

He must have noticed the red rise on my skin, because he started trying to make accommodations for me.

"They're a bit before your time."

I looked him over, he didn't look much older than me.

"Before my time? You look like _you're_ from my time."

He regarded me, eyeing me up and down.

"I'm twenty three. You still look like a baby."

"I'm eighteen." I objected.

"Still a baby." He said with an amiable snicker.

I shouldered him and he made an over-exaggerated stumble.

"I guess we're both babies in comparison." He said nodding his head towards the house, obviously referring to Daryl.

I smiled to him, and wondered what Daryl would have thought about that remark. He certainly didn't need any more reminders of how much older he was than me.

"You like the classics?" I said, trying to change the subject again.

"I like anything with a rhythm and a beat." He grinned into the night.

"Were you a singer - before?" I had heard him tell Daryl that he had joined the Navy, but I had thought he had the look of someone who could be famous, an actor or a model. He was definitely attractive enough, and he had a certain confidence and charisma about him. Maybe he could have been famous if none of this happened.

"I sang at church choir, but other than that just for fun."

"Yeah, me too." I agreed.

"You were a church goer?"

"My daddy made me, but I liked goin' anyways."

"Me too." He agreed. "I'm glad he did you know – made me go. When everything went to hell, I knew how to keep faith."

"Me too." I agreed. We both tittered at the repetitive phrase.

"Although my faith has transferred somewhat from God to mankind." He explained.

I looked at him waiting for more.

"When we feel like we're alone in the world, it's the others that give us faith."

I nodded at him and he continued on.

"Just got to keep hopin' and prayin' that there are good people out there still - to help keep you on the right path, or bring you back to it."

He reached out and touched me gently on the shoulder.

"I'm glad I was able to find good people like you. Restore my faith a little."

I touched his hand on my shoulder.

"Me too."

"Me too." he mimicked.

He was watching me now with his soft brown eyes, that squinted a little like he was peering at the sun. A gentle smile was on his wide smooth lips. I studied his face and his body language, the way he was leaning in to me, the way his eyes were searching my face, and I recognised a hint of desire. I felt my own body go rigid when I realised that my body language and facial features were imitating his own.

_Jeez Beth what's wrong with you? Your body's still aching and wet from being with Daryl and you're thinking of another man. _

I barely even knew this guy. His good looks were turning my brain to mush.

I pulled myself away from him swiftly and backed my way towards the door.

"I got to go back to bed." I said hastily.

I gave a stretch and yawn which was cringeworthingly false, and then quickly dodged back through the creaking door.

Once inside I went over to the table and dipped my hand in the bowl of pecans Daryl had left out for me, I started shovelling them in to my mouth enjoying the buttery flavour and crunchy texture. I was hungry and wished I had have eaten some of that rabbit earlier. I picked the dish up and turned back to go sit by Daryl.

He was now sitting up leaning forward looking into the fire. The sight of him awake startled me. He must have woken when I came back in that stupid creaking door. His eyes looked up at me glaring moodily.

The look was a cold one and it froze me on the spot. He tore his eyes from mine and stared back to the fire. I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore and put the bowl back on the table and moved over to him.

"Somethin' the matter?" I probed.

"Nuh." He muttered.

I hesitated trying to think what I had done to make him act like that. Had he overheard something I said outside? I racked my brain trying to think of exactly how my conversation with Anton went. As long as Daryl couldn't read my thoughts, our conversation seemed harmless.

It wasn't at all unlike Daryl to have his mood swings though, so maybe it was nothing.

He was still staring at the fire avoiding eye contact.

"You gonna come back to bed?" I said, breaking the silence.

"I got some stuff to do."

I looked around at the room, and it him sitting there half naked on the chair.

"Like what?"

"I dunno girl - Things. Jus' lea'me alone."

I took a step back at the snappiness of his reply. I could have probed for more. I could have argued with him. But I didn't think I was going to get far with the mood he was in, so I made my retreat back to the bedroom.

* * *

The rest of the night's sleep was broken, I woke several times and reached out under the cool covers searching for Daryl, but he wasn't there. It was a horribly empty feeling. In the bed, and in my heart.

When I got up in the morning Daryl and Anton were both cataloging and packing the bags with whatever extra supplies they had found at the house. Their weapons were resting against the doorway like they were ready to make a quick departure.

"We goin' somewhere?" I asked.

Daryl just looked up at Anton like he wanted him to answer.

"We're gonna head back out over to some train tracks I found while walking around yesterday." Anton answered.

"We are? I thought we might stay here a bit. There's food and water, rich earth we could plant some crops on..."

"Daryl thinks we might have somewhere better to go." Anton interrupted and nodded his head towards Daryl.

I looked over at him, shifting around in his bag and waited for him to elaborate.

"Like what?" I finally spoke up when he didn't.

He looked up at me.

"Your sister."

"What do you mean my sister?"

"There was a map down there, by the train lines. Talks about a place called Terminus. It said 'those who arrive survive'" Anton answered.

"I heard somethin' like that when we were out lookin' for medicine after that outbreak at the prison." Daryl finally chimed in. "I figure if the place exists and if the others made it out here, that might be where they are"

I could feel the excitement of hope bubbling in my belly. I bounded happily over to Daryl and gave him a hug. His body was rigid against mine, but that wasn't anything unusual. I pulled myself away and gleamed up at him.

"They'll be there, I know it." I asserted.

He forced a smile on to his face.

* * *

The tracks Anton had been talking about were about an hour's walk from the house and when we spotted them I jumped up excitedly and kissed Daryl on the cheek. He just scowled and shouldered me away gently.

I examined the sign that Anton had been talking about, dirt covered and faded, I figured it had been there for a long time. All the tracks were diverging to a central point, the tracks were tendriling out through the area, covering good ground. There was every bit the possibility that the others would come across the train lines, and hopefully across the signs as well.

Anton was sharing in my excitement and he walked along side me as we approached the rails. We stepped between the lines and trudged along, listening to the satisfying plod of the wooden rail ties, and the crunch of the crushed stones below our feet.

With Anton beside me I couldn't help but meet the urge to sing so I started on a Carrie Underwood song I remembered mentioned a train and it seemed fitting.

Last night, I was pouring out my heart  
Like a waterfall to you  
And with one kiss, I was a runaway train  
Flying off the track to you

Anton made me giggle when he pulled his voice in to a high pitched mock of a woman's voice and began belting out the second verse as if it had been one of his favourite songs.

We must have spent hours singing every song we could think of that involved a train, tapping out the beat with our feet on the tracks. Some of them folk songs, some rock songs, some country, some blues the most amusing was when Anton sang a verse from a Fatman scoop remix and began bouncing all over the place, waving his arms in the air and stumbling over the tracks. I hadn't laughed so hard in years. I was having so much fun I didn't even care that we were dawdling along, when before I had been in such a rush to get to our destination.

I felt overwhelmingly guilty when I realised Daryl had been several yards behind us the whole time scowling at us.

I stopped to wait for him, but when he looked up and saw me standing there he stopped himself.

"You keep on goin' there." He said flicking his finger down the train line.

"If I hear another song about train's I'm gonna bash my own skull in with one of these 'ere rocks." He booted into the ground and sent a spray of rocks up and over the rails, tumbling down the slope and catching in the furrow.

We didn't sing anymore after that, but Daryl didn't come any closer.

* * *

After about an hour of walking and chatting to Anton about his childhood, Daryl suddenly came up behind us and pushed us off the tracks and up the side of the line into the trees.

"What's going on?" I asked.

He pushed his fingers to his lips telling me to hush.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"I can hear someone, coming up behind us." He whispered back.

Anton carefully placed his bag on the ground and then slipped out his handgun from his holster. Daryl readied his crossbow, and I reached into the sheath by Daryl's side and pulled out his knife.

"Think it could be Joe's guys followin' us?" Daryl whispered to Anton.

"I hope not." Anton whispered back. "If it is, we open fire, no questions."

Daryl held his bow in one hand and put his other arm out back across us, telling us to be quiet and still, while the figures approached.

There was a single figure who approached at first, and then two behind it. The first one looked like a woman. She couldn't be part of Joe's crew, she wasn't tied up.

I crept forward pushing against Daryl's arm as I began to recognise the gait, the clothing, the hair.

"Maggie!" I squealed, pushing through Daryl's arm and half running half tumbling down the embankment, ignoring the pain in my ankle and throwing myself into my sister's open arms.


	10. Reunion

**The Walking Deth - Part I **

**An Unexpected Journey - Chp VII**

** Reunion**

We came to the decision to make camp right there in the furrow besides the train tracks. We were all too worked up over being reunited to think about moving on. Bob, Sasha and Maggie told us stories about their travels. How they had found the bus from the prison, but Glenn hadn't been on it. How they fought a herd of walkers in the fog with no visibility. About how Bob near got bit and was saved by his bandage. Beth told them about our journey too, but she left out a few of the grizzly details, and to my relief she didn't mention anything about us.

Beth told them a stretched truth of how she and I had stumbled across a warehouse, when Len and his cronies came back and were planning on killing us, but Anton had come to the rescue. Maggie and Sasha looked at him with big doe eyes, like he was superman. Bob looked at him like he was competition, and I just kept my mouth shut.

Later Beth and Maggie walked off alone together in to the trees, and when they came back their eyes were red and they had clean trails through the dirt on their faces and I knew they had been crying. They could have been talking about Hershel, or maybe about Glenn, or maybe about what happened to Beth. It was hard to tell, as they had so much to cry about.

While Beth and Sasha stood around the fire, debating on how to dig a good pit, and Bob and Anton were bonding over some military stories, in a lingo I couldn't understand, Maggie made her way over to me. She determined eyes were fixed on mine, and she was marching boldly, like she had something important to say.

I tried to think of something I could do to pretend to be busy, i wasn't ready to have this awkward conversation yet. I looked to my crossbow, maybe I could run off and claim I needed to hunt. My eyes then went to my Busse. I may just need that for protection, against her. I tried to look for any distraction or excuse not to talk to her, but my brain was racing too fast for me to grasp on to anything.

"Beth told me everythin' about what happened with you two." She said stopping before me with her arms crossed over her body.

I froze on the spot. Has she really told her _everything_? And was Maggie about to beat my head in for it?

"It must have been awful for her. Having an experience like that, with some...dirty old man."

Well that was harsh, and a little unexpected.

"Now just hold up one damn minute -" I started to protest.

"I know you did everythin' you could for her." She interrupted. "And it weren't your fault."

Okay so maybe Beth had told her that she was the one who made the first move, and I just went along with it, because that _was_ what happened. Still there was no reason to be calling me names.

"If you and Anton hadn't been there, it could have been much worse. Just imagine, your first time bein' like that."

I stifled a groan as I realised what she was talking about. It was what Len and the others had done to Beth, not what I had done to her. And if she thought that was her first time having that kind of experience, Beth obviously hadn't told her anything about us yet.

"I'm very grateful that you took care of my baby sister." She continued.

"Any other man probably would have taken advantage of a teenage girl out there vulnerable and alone, needin' another person for survival. They might have made her feel obligated."

Well that was a knife twisted into the gut. Any other man might have made her feel obligated. That was what Anton had said too, and Beth hadn't denied it. That wasn't what I had intended, I never felt like she owed me anything, but I couldn't speak on what Beth felt.

Maggie was studying my face now, and I hoped it wasn't revealing too much of my guilt. She leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"You're an honorable man Daryl Dixon."

She gave my shoulder a squeeze and then walked away back to Beth and the others, leaving me alone and confused.

That night, Beth slept in wrapped up protectively in Maggie's arms, and I spent the night questioning every move I had made since leaving the prison.

* * *

In the morning Sasha and Maggie raided Beth's bags, like a pack of wild dogs fighting over a bone, trying to find the Pecans we had shelled back at the grove. When they had emptied the bag of them they roasted them over the fire, using a piece of corrugated sheet metal. I knew that a few handfuls of Pecans weren't going to feed the six of us, so I started sharpened my knife and cleaned the grit out of my Stryker ready to go and hunt something worthwhile.

Beth had been sitting in the dirt running her fingers through her blonde hair and tying it back into a pony tail. She spotted me sitting on the tracks watching her and she got up walked over to me and dropped down beside me.

I looked over at the others who seemed to be too preoccupied to notice Beth and I. Maggie and Sasha were laughing by the fire, Bob had stepped off the tracks to take a piss and Anton was sitting in a ditch with lathered soap all over his head. He was scraping away at the growing stubble with his knife, looking into a piece of broken mirror.

"What the hell is he doin'?" I said, nodding my head towards him.

Beth looked at him and then back to me.

"It's called grooming." She reached out and flicked through my hair.

"You should try it some time."

I growled and playfully pushed her hand away.

"What ya need groomin' for out 'ere?"

She gave her shoulders a shrug.

"I donno - to look pretty?"

I looked back over to Anton, rubbing over his glistening wet head, and admiring his model looks in the mirror.

"Is pretty what you like?" I asked.

She gave me a grin and then reached out her hand and slipped her fingers inside my shirt, just below my collarbone. She looked like she was about to pull me in for a kiss, then her eyes flicked over to Maggie, who must have been watching us. She pulled her fingers out of my shirt and then brushed them over my collar pretending to be removing dirt.

"You don't wanna tell your sister huh?"

She pulled her hands away from me and placed them on her knees.

"I just can't talk about that kind of stuff with her yet. She's worried 'bout Glenn, I can't have her fussin' over me too."

"It's better we don't." I grumbled.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Don't ever?"

"Do we need to?"

It came out snappier than I intended it to, but I was feeling like shit about what Maggie had said. The thought of coming out with it all had my guts all twisted up inside. She looked kind of hurt at my tone, and I started getting the guilts again.

"Are you mad at me or somethin'?" She asked.

I stopped thumbing the fletching on the bolt I was holding and put it down alongside my Stryker.

"I ain't mad at ya." I explained. "I'm a lil mad at myself if anythin'."

"Why?"

"You know." I gave my shoulders a shrug, not wanting to get in to the discussion. She waited for more.

"Your sister said somethin', I been thinkin' on it."

"Thinkin' what?"

"That maybe I had taken advantage of you, bein' a vulnerable girl. Maybe you was thinkin' you owed me somethin', that's why you were always all o'er me."

She was shaking her head, and looked somewhat amused at what I had said.

"Daryl Dixon, I know perfectly well that I don't owe you anythin' I did what I did with you 'cause I wanted to and for no other reason."

I tried to shrug away the discomfort I was feeling. I still found it hard to believe that a young girl like Beth could have a true interest in someone like me. I don't think anyone else, including her sister, would believe that she did either.

"Don't know that your sister would be believin' that." I said nodding over to Maggie.

"You don't worry 'bout my sister, I'll deal with her when the time is right."

When would the time be right? Maybe in another few years when she wasn't still a teenager, if either of us were able to make it that far.

I snapped the bolt I was fiddling with into the quiver and then swung my Stryker over my shoulder and stood up, ready to run from the uncomfortable conversation.

"Would be nice for us to have some alone time again." Beth said as she pushed herself to a stand beside me.

I looked around at our group that had exploded over the past week from two to six.

"Bit hard to be alone with people 'ere." I pointed out.

"You goin' huntin'?'" She asked motioning to my bow.

"Yeh" I replied, wondering why she was asking such a dumb question.

"Think I could come? Get some more training in?"

I actually wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about what was going on with us. But the way she was looking at me made me think she wouldn't take no for an answer, and she did need to get some more training.

* * *

As soon as we had got far enough into the woods so that we couldn't be seen by the others, she grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me in for a kiss. I tried not to respond at first, telling myself how wrong it was, but the taste of her and the feel of her against my body made me give in.

It was a hard and messy kiss, filled with all the tension that had built up since that night I had heard her talking with Anton. She was pushing herself into me, grinding up against my thigh and rubbing her hands through my hair. When I felt me dick start to move I dragged the bow in between us and pushed it back on to her.

"Thought you wanted to train?"

She pouted a little, and then took the bow tucking the stock into her arm and holding the grip. She turned around to the woodland behind us and raised the bow peeking through the sight.

"What's for breakfast anyway?" She asked.

I searched around on the leave covered ground and through the thicket of trees and bush for a trail.

Up in the oaks I could see what looked like a nest in one of the cavities of the bole of the tree. Squirrels were fast movers and small targets, but the only thing large and slow around here was walkers, and we couldn't eat them.

"There'll be squirrel around 'ere somewhere." I told her, pointing to the trees.

Beth rested the Stryker on the ground and pulled out a dart from the quiver, she tried nocking it on the bow string and I chuckled at her.

"Wha'?" she whined.

"Didn't I show you this before?"

"You showed me, but I didn't do it myself. I don't remember."

I stepped in behind her and bent over to take the bow. I placed my foot in the stirrup and drew back the bowstring, and latched it into place.

"Now you put the bolt here." I showed her where to place it.

She took the bow back off me and nocked the bolt and then put the stock back to her shoulder, turning her face in to look through the sight.

I tilted her head away a bit and pushed the stock down.

"You gotta be careful of the kickback, don't want no more black eyes." I advised her.

The bruising on her face around her eye was almost gone now, and she would be pissed to have another one so soon.

My cheek was pressed up against hers, guiding her face into position. She turned her face sharply and gave me a peck.

"Concentrate." I growled gently.

"I can't concentrate with you pushing up on me like that." She replied.

I put my finger to my lips telling her to hush and then took a step back from her. I had spotted the Grey, halfway up the tree cleaning its face with its paws. I took my finger from my lips and pointed it up to the branch. She followed it up and then raised the bow ready to fire.

She pulled the trigger and let fly at the squirrel missing it by a couple of inches. The bolt flew past the tree and into the low brush beyond. The squirrel darted away out of sight.

We both went into the brush and began searching around for the bolt, kicking around leaves and sticks and dirt and crawling under bushes. We couldn't see it anywhere.

Rather than waste more bolts which were shit fuck to come by and fucking shit to make, I decided to confiscate the bow, and let her do some tracking. She led the way, and I kept my eye out for animal traps in the leaves.

We came across the trail of a deer. Beth was the one who spotted it, picking up on the fresh droppings and then finding a spot of grass that had been recently munched on, amongst the leaves. I hadn't seen a deer in months and it would have been a nice change from what we had been eating, but a deer could only be taken down with a well-placed bolt, and I was glad I was carrying the crossbow.

I followed Beth along the trail watching her hips sway from side to side. I was sure she was walking that way deliberately. A few times she stopped suddenly, making me walk into her and she would push herself back into me. It was a little annoying, but also a bit of a turn on.

It was pretty nice out here alone together again, seeing her happy and hopeful, and flirting with me again. It made me dare think about us having some kind of happiness together, maybe at this Terminus place. Once we had got up the courage to talk to Maggie about it.

What she said before about really wanting me, might have been true. She had Maggie here now, and all the others to keep her safe. She was probably almost right to take care of herself by now. But she was still here with me shaking her ass at me and driving me crazy.

If she kept it up, I was going to have to forget about that deer and do something to her that her sister wouldn't approve of.

"You best stop wigglin' that ass at me girl, before I throw you up against that there tree and have my way with you." I growled at her playfully.

She looked to the oak I had nodded my head at and began walking over to it, giving her hips wide and exaggerated swings. She braced her hands against it, took a wide stance and pushed her ass out towards me, and glanced back over her shoulder with an inviting look in her eyes.

"You mean this tree?"

**AN: Norman said Daryl isn't the type to have a woman up against a tree in the moonlight. But it's daylight now so...**


	11. Déjà vu

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter VIII**

**Déjà vu**

***Warning* Contains sexual content**

I didn't think he was going to go for the idea at first. The way he was standing back there staring at me, tapping his fingers on one hand against the grip of his bow, and stroking the hair on his chin with the other. He looked past me in to the trees like he was going to tell me to keep on tracking, but then he started stalking towards me like a man on a mission his crossbow down by his side skimming across the fallen leaves.

He reached a hand around me and grabbed hold of my ribs, just below my breast and pulled me hard back against his firm chest. I could feel him growing hard in his jeans and pressing into my backside. He dropped his bow to the side so it nested among the leaves, and moved his other hand over my waist to my front and then up under my tee and firmly palmed my abdomen.

"Yer a dirty lil' girl wan'in' to do it out 'ere, in the wild, like animals." He breathed into my ear. The tingle caused by his warm breath against my neck made my back arch and push my shoulders back against him.

"Yes, Mr Dixon." I agreed.

His hand was now moving from my ribs upward over my bra so he could cup my breast firmly, spreading his fingers out and around my covered nipple.

"If I'm gonna give ya what ya want, ya gotta behave yerself, Miss Greene."

His other hand was skimming around the band of my jeans his fingers prying downwards, past the binds of my belt and pressing between the denim and my tingling skin.

"How do you want me to do that?"

His lips were brushing against my neck gently as he spoke, and I arched my neck to the side encouraging him to kiss me there.

"Ya need t' keep yerself real quiet, we don't want no unwanted attention out 'ere."

He dragged his hand from my breast downwards to my belt and loosening it so that he could push in to my jeans and get better access to between my legs.

"You want me to stay...oh!"

I gasped as he skimmed his fingers against the top of me over the soft and nerve filled tissue where my legs began to part.

"Yeah. Real quiet, think you can manage?"

He moved a finger downward sliding it in between my lips, and gently circling around my opening. I felt my legs start to buckle below me, and he gripped me tight, so I couldn't slump, holding me against him with his strong, muscled arms.

"Oh!" I gasped again.

"Shhhh." He urged.

He bit lightly on my ear and I chewed down on my lower lip, trying to stifle a moan.

"I don't know." I gasped, answering his earlier question.

"We'll do a bit of practice first."

He forced his hand deeper into my jeans, pushing a finger roughly inside me, and stroking the front of me with his thumb.

"Oh, ohhh." I moaned a little quieter.

"If you can't keep quiet I'll have to stop."

"No don't stop." I said urgently.

I gripped my hands onto the tree, my nails digging into the cracks in the bark. I was determined to do as he told me, but it was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever asked me to do.

"Then shhh." He ordered.

He bit my ear again, and ran his tongue over my lobe. And I bit my own tongue trying to stifle another moan.

While his hand worked its magic he used his other hand to pop the button on my jeans, and slide the zip down allowing him to get his hand deeper.

A moan almost escaped again, but I put my face against my hand that was gripping onto the tree and bit down on my knuckles.

"Good girl."

He slipped his finger out only to replace it immediately with two and I let out a sharp groan as I felt my body stretch to accommodate. His thumb continued to massage over my front, while he moved his fingers inside me shallow and deep and shallow again, pressing towards my naval from the inside, maneuvering and manipulating and driving me into another world.

My face was throbbing with heat, and my knuckles were stinging from the firm bite I was giving them. I felt my body start convulsing, the nerve ends firing off into the palm of his hand, over and over again. I was moaning now, trying my hardest to keep control of the volume, but mostly failing. The sound didn't seem to bother him this time, as he just kept on rubbing and massaging and moving his fingers around inside me, and making me moan even more.

When the first wave of orgasms were over, he dragged his hand out and back over my hip leaving a wet trail behind that felt cool in the open air.

"Now do you want me in you?" He breathed into my ear again.

"uhuh." I uttered.

" 'member, keep quiet."

I nodded my head in agreement, even though I knew I couldn't do it.

He used both hands to pull my jeans down over my hips, and down to below my knees.

I heard the clink of his belt and the zip of his fly and then a shuffle of clothing before he grabbed me around the waist again, placing his fingers over my abdomen pointing towards my naval, and pulling me firmly towards him. He placed his other hand on my back and tilted my hips forward to allow him better access.

I let out another moan as I felt him push inside my wet and throbbing opening.

"Fuck you feel so good." He groaned, as the full length of him slid in to me.

I tried to respond but all that came out was another moan.

He was moving behind me now driving his hips upwards, pulling himself in and out of me, pounding his hips against my bare backside with a wet sounding slap.

I had my eyes closed and was moaning into my hands clenched together against the tree, trying my hardest to control myself.

He started to slow a little and I wondered if he had finished already, then I felt him moving off to the side, bending down as if to reach something. I opened my eyes and stared at the bark, wondering what he was up to.

Then I heard a familiar clunk, whistle thud, and I knew Daryl had shot a bolt.

* * *

I turned my head sharply to see what he had shot at.

It had been a walker, all ragged looking, dressed in tatters, rotten and bloody - shredded skin and muscle dangling off its lost and pleading face. It collapsed to its knees on the ground, and fell face first in to the leaves.

Daryl dropped his bow by his side and continued to thrust into me.

I was seriously grossed out, all desire suddenly fleeing my body. I tore myself away from him, pulling up my pants awkwardly then I turned to look at him with my face screwed up in disgust.

"What?" He said staring at me with an open mouth, his pants still around his thighs, and his shaft still erect and glistening wet.

"That's disgusting!"

"What? that?" He asked pointing at the body of the rotten, stinking corpse only a few yards from where we were standing.

"That you just kept goin' like it was nothin'." I shrilled.

He reached down and started pulling up his pants tucking himself into his jeans and doing up his fly, and belt.

"It was nothin'. It's a walker there's nothin' there." He pointed at his own head, and looped his finger around in the air.

"But you just shot at it, in the middle of – what we were doin' and then just went on about your business."

"I don't care about some dumbass walker, I kill them every fuckin' day. I kill several every fuckin' day. I've killed more walkers than I've had hot meals."

"And you can just kill them like that, watch the arrow go through their skull, watch all the blood and pus ooze out of them and then just go on screwin' me?"

"I don't even think about it, I just do it. My mind was on nothin' but you then, it was just a reaction."

"How can you do that? How can you just go from killin' to lovin'?"

"Well I have a lot more experience with one than I do with the other." He said gruffly, throwing his hands in to the air.

"Oh yeah? And which one gives you the most thrill, Daryl?" I said with a cold glare.

Daryl started shaking his head.

"Don't be like that. You know its nothin' like that."

"You know somethin' must be seriously wrong with you to still be turned on after doing that." I pointed my finger out at the dead walker.

"I'm sorry that I know how to tell the difference between the livin' and the dead." He spat back angrily.

"It's not about that." I retorted

"I'm sorry I ain't good 'nuff for you." He threw up his hand angrily and started prowling back and forth, his face contorted in anger. "Sorry that I ain't some pretty boy. Sorry I never went to no college or had no respectable job. Sorry I never joined no mothafuckin' church choir!"

I knew that he was referring to Anton now, and I knew he had been listening to our conversation that night. I wondered how long he had been comparing himself to Anton, and how much he was realising he wasn't like him.

He was fuming now, his face turning bright red, his muscles rippling in rage.

"Jeez Daryl, you don't need none of those things to have a bit of humanity." I tried to reason with him, but there was no soothing the savage beast.

"I ain't no Prince Charmin, and you're a damn fool if you ever thought I was." He pointed angrily in to my face.

"I don't expect no prince charmin', I just want you to act like a normal human being." I pleaded.

"So you want me to be somethin' I ain't then?"

"I just want you to put a little more effort in, you know, try to make it work for us." I moved my fingers back and forth between us.

He made a wide sweep of the woods with his arm.

"Look 'round Beth, we're sneakin' off into the bushes tryna hide from yer sister. It ain't workin'.'"

I folded my arms protectively over my chest.

"So what you sayin'? You wanna cool it?"

Daryl gave a deep nod.

"Probably best that we do."

"What we have isn't goin' nowhere? It's not worth nothin'?"

"We knew it was never goin' nowhere" He replied, a little calmer now. His tone and facial expression made my insides twist with a sense of loss.

"_We_ knew? Or _you_ knew ? What was I? Just somethin' to keep you busy? Somethin' to pass the time." I was getting angrier, the calmer he was getting.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well how stupid am I thinking some dumbass, degenerate, redneck was capable of anythin' other than huntin' and killin'." I spat back at him angrily.

I wish I could pluck those words out of the air and shove them back in my mouth.

His body was rigid with tension, face red with fury. I tried to soften my voice a little, to help calm his savage intensity.

"Did you ever feel anythin' for me?" I probed gently.

His lips were pressed together, nose flaring, eyes shooting daggers.

"I only fucked you 'cause I was drunk, an' every time after cause you was guiltin' me." He retorted.

His words hit me deep in the gut and knocked all the wind clean out of me. I sucked in a deep breath of cool air, in an attempt to regain my composure.

I knew it was a lie, I knew he was just trying to hurt me with words, the same way I had hurt him. But the feeling of rage building inside of me was in need of urgent and explosive release.

His flinch as a pulled my elbow back made me all too aware that he was completely capable of stopping me, but I wound my hand back and slapped him hard over his face, and he didn't even try.

I knew I had hurt him by the way my hand was stinging and throbbing all at once, and by the redness that was rushing to the surface of his skin. When he turned his face back toward me, there was a light spatter of blood on his lip.

His shoulders suddenly heaved, and I had thought he was going to hit me back, but the look in his eye told me I was safe. It was a haunting, soul destroying look of loss.

"Sorry." He said sincerely.

He had said he was sorry, but it was me who was sorry. I was supposed to be teaching him how to love and I had gone and hit him, just like his no good dad. But despite his miserable eyes that sent guilt throughout my body, I was still hurt by his words. So instead of embracing him as would have been the smart thing to do, I turned around and stormed off back to camp, cradling my swelling hand.

* * *

When I emerged from the trees the others all turned to look at me. I stopped and pushed my hand behind my back so no one could see the redness.

"Where's Daryl?" Asked Maggie curiously.

"He sent me back." I lied "Said I was making too much noise and scarin' everythin' away."

Maggie nodded her head in acceptance, but I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Damn I was hoping you was bringin' somethin' back, I'm starvin'." Bob said while he rubbed his stomach.

"You'll just have to have nuts for now." I suggested wondering if any Pecans were left.

I walked over to my bag and sat down in the dirt and stared at my knees. I tried my best to look like nothing was bothering me, but I knew I was pouting. Bob and Sasha seemed oblivious, flirting with each other. But both Maggie and Anton stared at me with questioning eyes.

* * *

We waited there for hours for Daryl to come back - all of the day. Maggie and Sasha started setting up a fire again as dusk came upon us. I continued to sit in the dirt staring at the rocks of the rail line, and focused all my energy on not crying, or yelling, or running off to find out where the hell he was.

We all moved around the fire when it was ready and tried to share stories to distract us from our apprehension over Daryl. Whenever the wind moved through the leaves we would all snap our heads around hoping it was Daryl returning, but it was never him.

Maggie had been eying me suspiciously all day, and she finally spoke up.

"Did you guys have an argument?"

"No." I snapped back a little too quickly.

"Why isn't he back yet?"

"I dunno." I replied, but I had a pretty good idea.

I had hurt him bad. I had sad really horrible things to him, and I had hit him. I had undone all the work all of us had done with him, trying to make him feel loved and welcome and one of us, in just a single moment.

"Do you think somethin' could have happened?" Asked Bob.

"No." I replied forcefully.

"No, not Daryl." Agreed Maggie. "He's the best hunter and fighter I've ever known. Must have decided to follow somethin' special."

She looked to me.

"Are you sure nothin' happened with you two out there?" She asked me again.

"No." I replied drawing my knees in tighter and trying to ignore the throbbing in my hand.

"You sure he didn't try anythin'? Do anythin' to scare you."

"Nooo!" I asserted angrily. I pushed myself to my feet turned away from everyone's confused gaze and started climbing up the embankment away from the train line.

"Where you goin'?" Maggie cried out after me.

"To have a piss!" I shrilled back.

* * *

I walked through the trees, far enough to be away from everyone's eyes and ears, but close enough to still see the light of the fire in the distance. I didn't have a torch or a flashlight and I didn't want to get lost out there in the dark.

I fell to my knees and started sobbing into the ground, wishing I could go back in time and change what had happened, take back the horrible things I said, or at least accept his apology. But it was too late now. Daryl was gone and maybe not coming back.

A twig snapping made me lift my head, to see a dark shadow moving through the trees. It was only Anton.

I rubbed my tears away with the sleeve of my sweater and stood up before him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm alright." I lied.

He moved closer to me.

"You guys had a fight hey?"

I nodded my head, scared that if I spoke I would start sobbing again.

"Is he coming back?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Do you _want_ him to come back?"

I nodded.

"Of course I do." I murmured.

"Do you think _he_ wants to come back?"

I shrugged again.

"Probably not. I said some pretty nasty things."

Anton moved in beside me and rested his arm on my shoulder.

"If he cares about you, a few nasty words won't keep him away." He advised.

"I dunno, they were pretty nasty." I insisted.

"Well I know men. And we don't let things like angry words from a woman's mouth get to us."

"Well it must have gotten to him, 'cause he ain't here."

"He ain't here, 'cause he don't want to be here." Anton assured me.

I tried to stifle a sob, knowing what he said was true.

Anton gently pulled me in to his chest and began stroking my hair.

"Guys like that, they don't make good partners." He continued. "They're the kind that like one woman a night, not one woman for life."

I didn't think that was Daryl. I had never seen him show any interest in anyone the whole time I had known him, but maybe before, when he had more choice, he could have been like that.

Anton pulled away from me and looked down on my face. He put his hand to my cheek and wiped away a tear with his thumb.

"You and him are from different worlds. He's withdrawn – you're chatty. You're up- he's down. You're light - he's dark."

Anton placed his fingers under my chin and turned my face up to look at his.

"What you need is a man, who can really be with you. Be happy with you, laugh with you...sing with you." He gave a chuckle.

I could see where he was going with this and I wanted to turn away from him, but something held me riveted to the spot.

His dark eyes were gazing down on me, the whites gleaming in the moonlight. He licked his broad lips.

"You should be with someone like me."

I wanted to say no, I wanted to push him away, but then he was there - pushing his lips against mine. They were everything that Daryl's weren't. Wide, soft and smooth, where Daryl's were drawn, dry and rough. But I didn't like Anton's lips. I didn't like them one bit. I just wanted Daryl's lips against my mine and his arms to hold me.

I pushed Anton away gently, and he looked down on me with curiosity in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Anton, but I love Daryl." My heart skipped a beat as the word 'love' slipped out my mouth.

"Love?" He queried.

I nodded.

"Think so."

I heard a shifting of leaves behind me and turned towards the sound. There was a dark figure off in the distance moving through the brush, I couldn't make out exactly who or what it was, until it made its way out of the brush and the moonlight caught dirty white angel wings on black.

* * *

"He's not coming back." I finally admitted more to myself than to the others.

Daylight had come and we were still sitting around the blackened fire pit. The remains of squirrel bones among the ashes. I had found five squirrels threaded through the neck on to a stick on the embankment of the rails near where I had walked off. Daryl had obviously left them there after he had spotted Anton kissing me.

The others all knew Daryl had left them, they knew neither myself or Anton were capable of catching five squirrels in such a short time in the day, never mind at night. But they never queried it.

"We can't really wait around for him anymore - we need to get to Terminus. I need to see if any of the others are there. To see if Glenn's there." Maggie explained as she stood up and started packing up her things. The others followed suit, hauling their bags on to their backs.

"I know you really want to see Glenn, but we can't just leave Daryl behind." I argued.

"He knows where we're headin'. If he wants to find us he will."

_If_ he wanted to. That's what I was afraid of.

"And I know that none of us want to think it, none of us would ever have believed it of Daryl, but maybe it is possible that…" She trailed off.

"That what?"

"He was out on his own, in the dark. He could have been taken down."

I shook my head not wanting to believe it, not that I ever could anyway. I still firmly believed Daryl would be the last one standing. If Daryl was gone, he was gone by choice.

"I know you don't want to think it Bethie, none of us do, but why else would he just leave us like that?"

Because I was horrible to him, because I hit him, and then I let another guy kiss me and he saw it.

"If you guys aren't gonna help me look for him, then I'll go on my own." I declared, reaching down to grab my bag, and checking that the knife I had gotten from Len's group was still in there.

"You can't go on your own Beth." Maggie insisted, stepping closer to me so she could physically restrain me if needed.

"Watch me." I challenged.

Maggie reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Please Beth, you know you can't wander around out there on your own, and we can't waste time back tracking."

"_You_ don't have to." I insisted again and pulled away from her grip.

"Damn you Beth!" She called after me. "I'm not chasin' you down!" she called louder as I walked away.

"I can take care of myself!" I called back over my shoulder.

I heard her growl and then I heard rocks crunching as four sets of feet walked away down the train line.

* * *

I went into the woods at the point he had left the squirrels. I hadn't had all that much practice with tracking a man, but I figured it would be similar to tracking a walker. I could already spot the prints left from his boots through the leaves. It looked as if he had kicked the ground a few times. If he kept that up, it should be no trouble following him.

The thought of being alone was somewhat scary, but I had spent enough time with Daryl to know basic survival skills. I had my knife, and I also knew that lone travellers attracted less attention from the walkers, and I would be able to handle one or two on my own, any more I could run from.

At this point in time, there was no thought that scared me more than the thought of never seeing Daryl again.

"You think it's smart running off on your own like that?"

The initial sound of the voice made me jump, but the familiarity of it was comforting. I turned around to see Anton standing behind me, arms crossed and head shaking in false disapproval.

"What were you gonna do out here when a herd of walkers came at you?"

"Run." I replied curtly.

"I told your sister I would come after you."

He had certainly earned Maggie's respect if she had entrusted him with that task.

"I'm not coming with you Anton." I said firmly. Crossing my arms over my body and planting my feet firmly on the ground in protest.

"I know. _I'm_ coming with_ you_." He walked towards me and past me leading the way forward into the trees.

* * *

I wasn't too sure on having Anton there at first, given what Daryl had seen, but I was glad of the company and he always did a good job of cheering me up. I would just have to find Daryl and explain to him that it didn't mean anything, and that I wanted to be with him. And Anton would be there to back me up.

Daryl's trail was surprisingly easy to follow. He had kicked into the ground half a dozen times, and kicked at trees leaving his big muddy boot prints on the bark. Daryl had even managed to leave behind a trail of walker bodies. Rounded holes left in their heads from bolts, and others with deep slits where he had used his knife. Some of them were covered in fresh blood and gore and I wondered if Daryl had done that or if they had already been that way. I later guessed Daryl had done it when I started noticing a fair amount of gore mixed in with his footprint.

Anton kept on telling me his life story. He told me about his time in college and then in the Navy. He told me about how he had been discharged for medical reasons, because he didn't cope too well with his dad's death. I thought that he had told Daryl that he had finished his training and that was why he went home. But Maybe I got it wrong.

Then he told me about how when he got back to his momma's house she had been barricaded in with his brother and sister in law and his little niece. He told me about how they had all got sick and turned and how hard it had been to put his little niece down. I thought he had told Daryl that he never made it back to his momma's house. But maybe that was a painful memory he didn't want to share with us at the time.

Then he told me about coming across the groups of raiders that tried to take his property and how he had to kill them all. I knew for a fact he had told Daryl that he had never killed a person before Len's man. But maybe he thought if Daryl knew the truth he wouldn't let him come with us.

Then he told me about the mother and child he came across while searching through homes with Len's group...

"When we found that lady, Claire, livin' out in that house alone with her lil' boy. I thought we might be able to look after them, keep them protected. But Joe dropped a claim on her, and then Dan dropped a claim on the kid. I had to stand back while the guys dragged them home and did all kinds of awful shit to them."

"Claire?" I asked wondering how well he had known this lady he was talking about.

"Yeah, the woman back at the warehouse." He replied.

I started to slow my steps, as his words spiralled through my head.

"She told you her name?"

"Yeah, I tried to make friends with her. Her and the boy – what was his name? Archie? Arthur?"

I had stopped walking now and I could feel my jaw hanging low, my mouth wide open.

"He didn't last too long. The little'uns never do." He stopped walking and turned back to me, with a wicked grin growing on his face. He slapped his hand on his forehead in an exaggerated manner, as if he had forgotten something.

"I wasn't supposed to know about all that was I?"

* * *

_Run Beth!_

I was frozen to the spot, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe. He knew her! He knew the lady on the table and he did nothing to help her, maybe he even helped do that to her. And on that other table there had been a little boy, and he knew about him too.

He was now slowly prowling back towards me, his hand resting on the knife at his side.

"She was a screamer - just like you." He slipped the knife out and began rubbing it along his thumb.

"Don't think she liked it as much as you did with your man though."

_Jeez Beth what's wrong with you? Move!_

_"_But your man ain't here now is he?"

He snapped his hand out and down towards my wrists and my senses finally kicked in. I pushed his hand down and out of the way with a force that caused him to turn his shoulder to me. I drew back and slapped him hard with the same hand I had used to slap Daryl, but this time it was twice as hard and it left my hand completely numb and possibly broken.

Anton went sprawling to the ground and I dashed off to follow the trail Daryl had left behind. We were too far out for me to run back to Maggie now and I just hoped and prayed that Daryl was still around.

I could hear the leaves moving behind me and the thumping of feet. Anton was a lot quicker than me and his steps were getting closer. I began weaving in and out of the trees hoping to throw him off and make it more difficult for him to grab hold of me. I had completely lost Daryl's trail now and was just running in any old direction - for dear life.

My ankle was throbbing from all the running and sharp twists and turns, and it finally gave way beneath me, throwing me to the ground. Anton was immediately on me, grabbing me by the boots and dragging me in towards him.

I struggled to reach into my backpack trying desperately to get to my knife, but he ripped it off my back and threw it into the bushes.

"Daryl!" I screamed.

"He ain't here, remember?" Anton snarled.

He grabbed hold of my thighs and flipped me over and pinned me to the ground, his knees on my shins and his hands on my wrists.

"You're a monster." I screamed into his face. "A sick fucking monster!"

"That's what they all say." He was speaking calmly and quietly, like me struggling beneath him didn't faze him at all.

He pulled my wrist together and held them together in one hand. My hand still pulsated with pain.

"You got me a good one Missy, think it's gonna leave a mark."

He began rubbing his face where I had hit him.

He moved his hand towards my face and I squinted my eyes preparing for impact, but he gently stroked along my cheek instead of hitting me as I expected.

"I like leaving marks too." He informed me.

Holding my head down, he leant down and bit me on the top of my breasts underneath my collarbone. It was a hard stinging bite, through my shirt, but I was sure it drew blood. My heart skipped a beat when I realised it was him who did the bites on that girl.

I began screaming for Daryl again - For anyone.

Anton was now fumbling around with my belt with his free hand. I wriggled around trying to move my hips, shins and wrists - but he had me firmly pinned.

"You know it's a pity. I thought we could have had something real nice - Living over at Terminus, with your hot ass sister. And that Sasha – Damn she was fine."

He had my buckle undone now and was pulling my jeans down over my hips.

"They might feel sorry for me - after I show up there. I'll tell 'em how I couldn't find you. How you were lost out here- most likely eaten by walkers."

I started looking around at the woods surrounding me looking for something that might help me -a rock, or a stick. If I could just get one hand free, and grab hold of something, I could hit him hard enough to get him off me.

With his hands gripping firmly around my wrists, I wasn't going to get my hands free, but I did spot something familiar.

I had walked through the woods with Daryl long enough to know those tracks, and they looked to be very recent.

"Daryl." I screamed again, hoping I could be heard.

"Nobody gonna come for you but walkers missy." He sneered.

Anton had pulled my pants down to my thighs. I could feel the cold dirt and leaves pressed up against my behind.

I glanced over to the movement behind Anton.

I could see them now stepping out from the bush- The filthy clothes and boots smeared with gore.

Anton was trying to flip me over now on to stomach, and I braced myself getting ready to flee as soon as the time was right.

* * *

The walker threw himself at Anton and went straight for the neck. Anton pulled his hand up releasing my wrists and pushed the walker away, using his forearm, just before it could bite. I felt heavy now with both Anton and the walker on top of me, but with Anton preoccupied with the walker I could wriggle and roll free.

More were appearing now shuffling out from the bushes, attracted to Anton's grunts and groans as he held of the walker. He reached into his holster and pulled out his gun and shot the walker in the head, spraying rotten brain out in to the air behind him.

I pulled myself to my feet, watching as three more walkers fell on top of Anton. He was pushing them back with his feet and hands. Their teeth were gnashing into the open air hungrily. I turned and ran, pulling up my pants along the way.

As I dashed through the wood, dodging bushes and low hanging branches, I heard a gunshot, then another. Two gunshots for three walkers - Had the last one got him? I wasn't going to stop to find out so I just kept running until I noticed the trees thinning up ahead. I dashed though the last of the trees and found myself out on an open road.

I had got so turned around in the woods that I didn't know which way to go. So I just picked any way and started running. I listened out for Anton's cries that could still be heard in the distance. I could also hear another sound, a hollow sound almost like waves crashing on a shore. It was a familiar sound, but one you didn't hear too often these days.

I turned to see where it was coming from, and got a strange feeling of déjà vu.

Coming along the road, driving towards me was a car. There was something about it that I recognised. It wasn't the same one as the last I had seen. That one had burnt down in the warehouse. But there was something familiar about it. I stared into the glass trying to see either the driver or passenger, but all I could see was shadows. Then I looked further into the car to the rear window.

There was a silhouette of a white cross.

**AN: That was the last bit of smut for about five chapters (and it didn't even finish well) but please stick around because it is coming back!**


	12. Gone

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter 9**

**Gone**

The bolt went straight through the motherfucker's eyeball with a satisfying pop. I stepped forward put my foot to the walkers chest and yanked the bolt out. I took that same bolt and forced it through the eyeball of another walker who tried coming up behind me. That one popped all over my hand, spraying cold, sludge between my fingers, but I didn't care.

_That's right Daryl, Kill. Hunt and Kill that's all you're good for._

I took a moment's break from killing walkers to reload my Stryker and then let rip into another one that was stumbling towards me, dragging its rotted feet through the dirt. The bolt went straight through its gaping mouth and the tip popped out the back of the rotting skull. I paced over to it reached my hand into its mouth and yanked the bolt back out.

_She hurt you bad Daryl. She hurt you 'cause it was true._

Another two were tumbling over each other trying to get to me. I took out my Busse and got one through the ear, and the other through the bottom of the jaw and up into the skull.

_And what do you do if someone hurts you Daryl?_ _You hurt 'em back._

I heard the gasping behind me and turned sharply throwing my elbow into the walkers moaning face. The skin on its face popped like a busted balloon on impact but it was still chomping away at me with bare, muscles, tendons and bone exposed. I kicked it to the ground and used the stock of my crossbow to finish it off.

_But not her, she was better than that._

I put my foot to the stirrup and reloaded my Stryker again.

I had let Beth hit me for saying that dumb shit. That was the only good bit of advice Merle had ever given me about women. _If you deserve it, let 'em take a shot. _But then she had hated me. I was used to being hated. Being hated was easy. No-one expected nothing from you. But her hating me ate me up inside something fierce.

I had gone back to try to talk to Beth, to try to make things right. But then she was with him.

A walker fell out from behind the bushes almost catching my shoulder. I shrugged away from it's tired grasp and swung my Busse into the back of its skull.

The walker fell to the ground and I rolled it over to its back and slammed my knife down in its guts. Once, Twice, three times. I hated that fucker. I hated him with his hands and lips all over her. Not the motherfucking walker, Anton.

_But she pushed him away._

I left the walker and went back to my Stryker lying on the ground.

She _had_ pushed him away, and then she said what she said.

The only thing worse than being hated by her, was being loved by her. I knew how to show hate back, I didn't know how to show love. This girl was messing with my head like no-one ever had before.

Another walker stumbled through the bush towards me. It fell to the ground by my feet and I let a bolt go in to its forehead. I then removed the bolt from the walkers head using my foot against its face for resistance, crunching the rotting nose beneath my boot.

Anton knew how to love, that asshole was smoother than silk. He knew how to do a lot of things I didn't. He was fucking perfect for her. Before all this shit started with Beth, before I gave in to weakness. I told her that we would find a better place for her and a better person, and that was what we had found. I didn't really know what it felt like to be jealous, but I hated the fucker with every inch of my being, and that was probably what it felt like. I wasn't going to take away Beth's chance at happiness in this fucked up world just 'cause I was jealous and I had fooled her into loving me.

I don't know how many more walkers I killed. It was all a flurry of boots and bolts and steel and cold congealed blood and a shitload of gore. I had come through the trees now and found my feet tapping on gravel. I looked both ways down the empty road, trying to decide which way to go.

One way would probably take me to Terminus and back to Beth. Where I would have to let her go, let her be with Anton, or preferably some other guy from Terminus. And I would have to watch her, every day for the rest of my life, be happy without me. That would hurt like hell.

The other way was backward, back to what I had been before Beth, maybe to what I had been before the prison. Maybe to what I was before the world went to shit. That was a fucked up idea too. But I wasn't ready to see Beth or the others just yet. I needed time; so I walked away from Terminus. I would stay out here on my own, just until I could sort my head out.

* * *

After a few hours of walking along the road I spotted an abandoned truck. I wasn't even sure how long I had been walking. It was dark now, so it had been one full day, maybe two, since I had left the others – Everything had been murky since fighting with Beth. I suddenly realised how exhausted I was. I had no food or rest and had been living only on the adrenaline of walker killing. The truck would be a decent place to stop for the night. I would be safe from walkers at the least.

As I approached the truck, I caught voices talking low. Two voices; I could probably take them out if there was any trouble. I snuck up to the side of the truck and peered in the passenger window, trying to get a glimpse through the front windshield. My eyes were caught by an object lying down on the seat of the car. It was a familiar round brown object with shiny loop around the middle. A deputy sheriff's hat, and it was sitting on top of Carl's chest.

I stepped away from the truck and looked over to where the voices were coming from. It was Michonne and Rick, and there was someone crawling up beside them. And I knew who that was too.

"Joe!" I called out just as Joe pressed the muzzle of the gun to Rick's temple.

Tony was over by Michonne pointing his gun at her head too. I went to swing my Stryker up into my arms, but a rifle knocked it down. Harley pointed the rifle to my head and I let the bow fall to the ground. I noticed Len's bow was amongst the gear at Harley's feet. So they had got to the warehouse and seen what happened. They must have been following me that whole way.

"You screwed up, asshole. You hear me? You screwed up.." Joe said to Rick.

"Just hold up Joe. They had nothin' to do with what happened back there." I called out.

Michonne and Rick were staring at me with disbelief on their faces. Joe looked up at me with an ugly-ass, sly grin on his face.

"Well look at who we have here. If it's not my old pal, Daryl." His crew shifted around trying to get a look at my face and then started sniggering.

"Back there?" Joe said tilting his head backward. "Oh, you mean back at the warehouse? when we lost all our shit?"

I was aware of Billy creeping up behind me now, getting into position to take me out. Joe continued talking holding the gun to Rick's head.

"I thought that may have been an accident, but then we found Len crawling outside, half charred and all freaked out. He was all tangled up in his bow with his guts all trailing out behind him. I knew someone had done that to him. Thought it might have been Anton, thought they might have been fightin' over that blonde bitch they found. Anton liked the blonde ones."

That blonde bitch? Did he mean Beth?

"Anton?" I blurted in disbelief.

"He usually was the first to claim 'em but he missed out on that one." Joe explained.

"We talkin' 'bout the same Anton here?"

"Tall, black man – Looks like he belongs on the cover of People?"

That was him.

I felt my hands start to tremble by my sides. Anton liked the girls. I knew the fucker was creepy. I knew I should have trusted my instincts and fucked him off as soon as I got the chance. I could see that woman tied to the table now in my mind, her body bruised and battered. Anton had tried saying he took no part in it, I should have known he had lied, and now I had left him with Beth.

"Then we saw Jess stumbling about with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his neck." Joe continued. He was studying my face watching my reactions. "Did you want a piece and they wouldn't share?"

I glared back at him angrily.

"No. You knew the bitch hey? Thought you might of. So you took the girl, killed my men and burnt my shit down."

I was in a world of shit, but Beth might still be okay. She had Maggie and Sasha and Bob – they would keep her safe. I had to think of Rick and Michonne now. They couldn't pay for what I had done, or what I didn't do.

"Okay, but you can let 'em go – I don't know 'em, I was jus' passin' by." I said nodding towards Rick and Michonne.

With any luck Carl would stay hidden until these fuckers were gone.

"You think we were followin' you?" He chuckled and his crew followed with sniggers. "Nah. You see this piece of faecal matter killed one of my best men...Strangled him while goin' to the bathroom. We've been trying to track him down since before you burned our shit to the ground. You bein' here – my friend – is just a happy coincidence."

Harley and Billy both sniggered beside me, and Joe continued with his taunts.

"Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe. Everythin' and everyone is fallin' right into my cosy little lap."

"You want blood, I get it. Take it from me, man. Come on." I beckoned him with a wave of my hand.

Joe pushed the gun forcefully against Rick's head again.

"We will. We will. But this man killed our friend."

He gave a closed lipped smile to Rick and then sneered up at me.

"I'm not sure whose gonna have it the best. We'll fuck the girl." He nodded over to the scowling Michonne. "We'll shoot him." He tapped the muzzle of his gun against Rick's face, and rick's eyes glared out towards me. "but you...we're gonna beat you to death, Daryl."

I caught Harley's rifle stock in the cheek, knocking my head down. I stumbled forward trying to catch my balance and then found Billy grabbing me around the waist and pushing me to the truck. I was catching fists from both Harley and Billy, pummelling me in my face and kidneys. They pressed my face up against the driver's side window and I saw Carl staring at me in horror. Joes other guy, Dan, had opened the passenger door, grabbed hold of him and started pulling him out of the car.

Billy knocked me to the ground and I tried to defend myself against the onslaught of boots and fists. Prolonging the inevitable.

"Well looky here fellas, we got a boy to fuck too." I heard Joe call out crudely.

A boy to...Not Carl! That couldn't happen to Carl.

These guys were the worst kind of freak-shows in this shit hole world. I didn't know what to do. I was getting the shit beat out of me and Rick and Michonne both had guns to their heads. If I went for my knife they would be killed, and Carl would have no chance.

Then I heard a gunshot and I was sure Rick was a goner. I heard a struggle and then another gun shot – that must have been Michonne. At least she had been spared the raping, but I could still hear Carl struggling. Could I make a move without getting Carl hurt?

Harley and Billy lifted me and threw me up against the car again and I saw that both Michonne and Rick were still alive, and Rick was still standing there, in front of Joe. Joe stumbled backwards away from Rick, and I saw blood spurting out of a gaping hole in his throat. Rick spat a chunk of flesh and blood to the ground and I knew what he had done.

Michonne took the moment of confusion and used it to grab Tony's gun and turned it into his neck and fired. Harley and Billy were busy staring at the action when I wound up my fist and slammed it in to Billy's face. Michonne took Harley out for me with the gun and I threw Billy's face in to the ground and started smashing the back of his head with my boot until he was limp and lifeless.

Rick took care of Dan plunging his knife into him, and dragging the blade upwards through his chest and gutting him like a fish. Dan's body fell to the ground and Rick climbed on top of him and started slamming the knife into his body. It reminded me of what I had done to Len. But this time no-one was going to stop him.

* * *

The next day when the sun rose on the situation Rick was pretty shook up about it all. He had spent the whole night sitting against the truck, staring into the woods, looking like he was struggling with his own humanity. I had spent the night destroying the brains of Joe and all of his followers, removing all their gear and dragging them away from the truck so Carl didn't have to look at them.

When I was done I went over to try to offer Rick some support. I opened up a bottle of water and poured it onto my red rag, and handed it to him.

"We should save it to drink." Rick protested.

"You can't see yourself, he can." I nodded towards the cab of the truck where Michonne and Carl had been sleeping. Rick was a mess. He looked like he had...well he looked like he had just torn a man's throat out with his own teeth.

He took the rag to his face and started rubbing the blood away, and I sat down beside him resting against the truck.

"I didn't know what they were." I said, turning to look at Rick as he washed his face.

"Where'd you meet those guys?"

"I was with Beth, we got out together. We were together for a while." I paused for a second thinking about the time we had spent together and how important that time had been, but now it was gone. "I lost her while we were out there, and came across Joe when I was tryna find her. His group was pretty ragged, but Joe seemed like a fair man. Thought I could stay with 'em 'til I picked up on Beth's trail. Then this ass-hole started droppin' hints that he knew where she was and it turns out they had Beth all along. So I got Beth away and set fire to their all shit." I scoffed at the thought of it. "Weren't enough though."

I didn't tell him about what they planned to do to Beth. I didn't want him knowing what could have happened to Michonne and Carl. His imagination wouldn't need any help.

"Where's Beth now?" He asked.

"I left her...back with Maggie, Bob and Sasha." I couldn't bring myself to say Anton's name. "They're headin' towards Terminus, s'posed to be safe there."

A glimmer of hope could be seen in Rick's eyes, when I spoke the names of our family.

"They're alive?"

I nodded, and a small smile flickered on Ricks' face.

"That's where we're goin'." Rick spoke it to me, like the we included me. My face fell a little and his face fell with mine. I was thinking of whether I deserved a place in that family. But he was most likely thinking of finding another Woodbury, by the way he got that haunted look in his eyes again. Hope was a hard thing to hold on to after what he had just been through.

When I first met those guys I had said I would kill every last one of them if I found they had anything to do with taking Beth. They had, and instead of killing them I ran. If I had have just killed them none of this would have ever happened. Rick wouldn't be struggling with his humanity. Carl wouldn't be getting rocked in Michonne's arms with them both coming to terms with near being raped.

"I should have killed them when I had the chance, I knew they were bad. Didn't think they could hurt someone like Carl though." I said regrettably.

"It's not on you, Daryl."Rick said, looking in to my eyes. I dropped my face down still feeling like I could have stopped it all.  
"Hey...It's not on you."

I looked back up at him.  
"You being back with us here, now, that's everything...You're my brother.."

A shudder went thorough my body as I thought how much that meant to me. I always saw him as family, but to be called his brother was really something special. To be actually wanted...I couldn't walk away from that. I would go on to Terminus with them. I would deal with Anton and then I would have a talk with Beth and sort out what was going on with us. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, but I still cared about the girl, and I could put up with the shit she made me feel as long as she was safe.

"Hey, what you did last night anybody would have done that." I tried to reassure the still shaken Rick.

"No, not that." Rick disagreed.

"Something happened."

Yeah something happened. His survival instincts kicked in. It was something I would do. Hell I almost did do the same to Len. I only wish I had thought to gut the fucker first.

"That ain't you."

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese...It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters."

You did what you had to for the people you _loved_. And I'm pretty sure that's why I had done it.

* * *

After we were all cleaned up we continued on from the road to a nearby rail line. We weren't all that far out from Terminus and I was getting anxious about seeing Beth again, and how I would handle Anton.

Rick wanted to leave the rail and go through the woods to case the joint first. It all looked pretty calm and quiet, possibly as safe as the prison. But we still buried the weapons we had pulled off Joe's men by the fence line, just in case. We were all suspicious about new people after the types we had met on the road.

We scaled the fence and entered a door to a large warehouse full of people painting signs to Terminus. A woman was sitting by a microphone saying the radio message that we heard on the way to the vet school.

"Terminus those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide you with your journey. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive , sanctuary for all. Community for all."

"Hello?" Rick called, interrupting the speech.

"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." Called a clean cut looking guy...well as clean as you could be in a world thats gone to shit.  
"You here to rob us?"

"No." Rick replied. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."

"Makes sense." The guy said with a shrug. He started approaching us cautiously.

"Usually we do this where the tracks meet." he cleared his throat.

"Welcome to Terminus" He opened his arms out placatingly.

His name was Gareth, and I took him to be the leader type. He asked us to lower our weapons which we did and then they frisked us. I was relieved that they let us have the weapons back when done. But my hackles were raised.

Another man, his name was Alex, took us around the front way, where it all looked perfect, too perfect. There were flowers and crops growing, a place to wash clothes and the place was filled with people, but no Beth. Alex took us to a woman stabdig by a grill.

"Hi." she called in an eerily friendly manner. "Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."

"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" Alex asked the woman.

"Why do you do it? Why do you let people in?" Michonne asked warily.

"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger." Alex strolled over and collected a plate of meat from the griller.

I didn't like the feel of this place. It was too good. Too nice. Too friendly. Too fake.

Rick was also looking about the place suspiciously. I spotted my Poncho earlier that Maggie and the others must have grabbed from the prison, but I couldn't see any of our people anywhere. Reading Ricks body language, he was going to make a move, and I would follow suit.

Rick pulled his gun and pointed it at Alex. Michonne, Carl and I followed Rick drawing our weapons. Rick demanded to know where our people were. The lying sack of shit, Gareth, appeared and tried saying they never came here, and came up with some far out excuses as to why they had all their gear, which none of us were buying.

Rick spun Alex around just as the Terminus people opened fire. We were all under fire now and made our way back to the warehouse we had entered from.

As we ran away I heard Gareth shout "Push A."

They were organised, and they had a plan.

We ran through the buildings with the fire at our feet. It was clear they were trying to control our path like a rabbit into a trap. When I spotted the 'A' on the door we were entering I knew we were heading exactly where they wanted us to.

We came upon a room lit by candles, with a message scrawled across the wall reading 'Never again. Never trust. We first, always.' There were dozens of names written on the floor. People they had lost?

We left the place and found ourselves outside again with freight containers spotted all over the place. I thought I could hear yelling from inside them. Was one of them Beth? We had no time to check it out now, we needed to get out of here and back to our other weapons before we could help anyone. We made a try at the fence but were met with a line of snipers. They had won, we were trapped.

Gareth ordered us to drop our weapons and, one by one, enter a nearby train car, which was also painted with the letter A.

We all stepped inside and the door was pulled shut behind us, with a finalising clang. I could feel the warmth of bodies and the smell of stale breath. I knew we weren't alone in there. My eyes adjusted to the light and I recognised the other bodies in there with us.

Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, and Bob all stepped forward. I was somewhat relived despite the world of shit we were in. There were more people behind them. Two women and two men I hadn't seen before, stepped forward, but there was no Beth.

"Where's Beth?" I asked, turning to Maggie.

"She went looking for you." Maggie replied with a puzzled look on her face.

I searched through the faces again.

"And Anton?"

"He went after her. Said he was gonna bring her back, but they never showed up. Probably a good thing hey?" She gave a nervous chuckle.

What was I going to say to her now? Should I tell her who Anton really was, and what he was capable of? It wasn't going to achieve nothing. It would just make her stress, and we were already in enough shit as it was. I didn't know what had happened with her. I didn't know if Anton would rape her, or kill her, or if Beth would have got away from him. I didn't even know if Anton had found her out there. All I knew was that she wasn't here, and that may just be a good thing.

I threw my back against the side of the train car and put my shaking hands to my thighs trying to control them in front of the others, fearing for Beth was a burden I didn't want to share.

Rick was watching me with concern. I wondered if he had remembered what Joe had said about Anton, back before he killed him.

"Daryl?" He spoke in a questioning tone of concern.

"She's gone Rick. She's just gone."

**AN: So that brings us up to Season 4 finale. But don't worry I decided to continue the story on...I'll post the first 4 chapters of Part II within the week.**

**Thanks for all the positive reviews, it really does encourage me to keep writing. I'm totally cool with negative reviews too, so don't be afraid to share those, just don't be nasty.**


	13. Companions

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter I**

**Companions**

**AN: This is where I decided to continue on with my ownstoryline, starting in a similar place to where the season 4 finale of TWD left off. I hope you like it. The first few chapters don't have much Bethyl as I am trying to reunite them, but please don't give up. They'll be back together soon.**

"This last one, and you've got them all."

His voice was gruff and gentle at the same time, letting a puff of swirling mist escape into the cold air from his mouth as he spoke. I inhaled deeply until my lungs were filled with the chilly air and then let the air seep out through slightly parted lips as I carefully drew my index finger in.

_Draw in the trigger, don't jerk it, and be prepared for a lil' kickback._

My ears rang from the sound of the shot and my shoulder hurt a little from where the rifle had kicked back as it had several times in the last few minutes, but after hearing the chink of metal against metal and watching the can throttle into the air and land with a gentle thud, discomfort was replaced with a feeling of satisfaction. Seven cans had been perched on top of the gravestones, seven now lay in the dirt, through my seven attempts to shoot them down.

I turned over to Mix to watch his reaction. He was still contently slapping his scraggly tail against the ground. No walkers were approaching – yet.

"You're an excellent marksman Lil' Miss Beth. Really don't think you're needing my pointers anymore." David said with a grin that creased the skin around his grey eyes.

"I've been givin' pointers before." I said, thinking of Daryl. "Although I don't have that much experience with a huntin' rifle."

"Oh yeah, what's your weapon of choice?"

"I've tried a few but most recently was taught on a crossbow."

David raised a curious eyebrow.

"A crossbow eh? Don't see many of them around."

"Has the advantage of stealth."

"I do wonder how arrows would fare against the hide of an animal."

"It's all still good, you get your meat pre-skewered."

We both chuckled.

"Can't eat tin cans though." David tipped his head to where the rusted and collapsed cans lay in the dirt.

I strolled the one hundred or so feet over to the line of gravestones and started picking up the cans and replacing them on their perch.

"One more round?" I asked David as he approached behind me.

"Think that's just about enough for today, don't need to be tempting fate, and we could save that ammo for a more dire need."

"C'mon, Mixy is still happy, there are no walkers about."

David looked cautiously down on the scraggly white furred, one eyed dog and examined his tail beating on the ground with a gentle thumping. He sighed and then fumbled around in his pocket. I could hear the sharp clinking of metal and then he pulled out his hand and produced three more rifle rounds.

"We'll make it an even ten, and then that's it. It's starting to get dark and I don't know how much longer our luck will last with them...err...umm..._walkers_."

* * *

The last three had gone down too quickly and disappointment twisted in my chest as I knew it was time to pack it in for the day. I left the cans where they lay in the dirt by the gravestones and turned to follow Mix and David back to the house.

It was the same white funeral home that Daryl and I had come across before. The same one that we thought we might share together, before Anton's group took me, and before we found Maggie and the others. Even though I was glad we had found Maggie, I still wondered what life would have been like for Daryl and I, if I had never been taken that night.

David, I believed, was a good person, which was very lucky for me. When he pulled up beside me in that sedan with the familiar white cross painted on the back windscreen, fear had gripped me. Then when he had opened the door and I had taken in the sight of the white hair and beard and crinkled aging skin, I had thought for a second that my dad had descended from the heavens to rescue me. Maybe that's why I was so willing to jump in the car with him. That and I thought I had better chance with him, than the crazy, angry Anton who was chasing me down the road covered in muck and blood and swinging a knife around.

On closer inspection David was not as much like my dad as I had originally thought. His hair was more grey than white, and a lot shorter than I remembered daddy's being, and he wasn't as old as my dad had been. I would put him somewhere between fifty and sixty. But he did have the same warm eyes and soft smile that I remembered on daddy. I was still cautious of his gentle appearance, as I had been fooled once before, but getting a wet, hot and sticky lick from the scraggily haired back seat passenger had put me somewhat at ease.

Mix was one clever and useful dog. When we had first come back to the funeral home David had sent Mix out on his own to check the house, and he had come bounding back happily switching his tail and spinning twice telling us it was all clear. David had informed me that Mix had an uncanny sense of danger and he was always sent ahead first to check things out.

I had told David then of how Daryl and I had come to his home earlier and how Daryl had found Mix out the front of the house. David had asked if I was responsible for eating his food, sleeping in his bed, letting the dead in and stealing the funeral homes other car. I had admitted to all but stealing the car, and as penalty David had made me scrub the walls and floors removing all the muck that the walkers had dragged through his home.

David was a very clean person, which was something Daryl and I had picked up on when we had stayed here earlier. Even now as we walked up the steps of the porch he nodded his head towards my feet indicating that I needed to take my boots off. I leaned against the side of the house and tugged them off one by one, and stood them by the door. Mix gave them a sniff then circled around them and lay himself down on the tiled floor as if he would protect them.

"He likes you." David said nodding to the pile of dirty fur with its tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"I like him too." I said, giving Mix a scratch on the chin. "He's a real good guard dog."

David nodded in agreement. "The best. I'm grateful to the lord that I found him."

"Found him? You didn't know him before all this?"

"Nope. I've only had him around for a couple months. I was scavenging through a motor home a few miles from here and one of those dead things – the walkers – came out at me, caught me off guard, next thing I know this scraggly mutt was tearing it down to the ground. Saved my life he did."

I gave Mix another firm rub as praise for his past deeds.

"Why'd you call him Mix?"

"I didn't know what kind of dog he was, just thought he was a mix, so that was what I called him."

"Cute." I responded.

"I guess he might be, under all that dirt. Won't let me give him a bath."

I ran my fingers through Mix's matted and muddy fur, trying to work through the tangles, thinking of another loyal companion who didnt like to bathe. Despite Mix's scraggly appearance he was clearly well trained, and likely well loved.

"Do you think someone is missin' him?" I asked.

"I think if there was someone left to miss him, he wouldn't be here with us."

I wasn't too sure about that. There were people to miss me, but I wasn't with them.

* * *

We were lucky enough to have stove cooked meal that night. David had been out looking for gas canisters that day he had found me and he had been lucky to find two, which he claimed would last him weeks, but maybe only half as long now I was there. I had been pretty indecisive about whether I was staying. All I ever thought about was getting back to Maggie and the others, and maybe finding Daryl. But David kept insisting the outside world was no place for a young girl to go wandering about on her own, and recent events had proven him to be right. Although I still made a point of pressing the matter every day, and that evening while sitting at dinner was no different.

"I would like to get back to my sister." I interrupted David telling me some story of his road trip to Canada.

David stopped scooping the soup from his bowl around and gently put the spoon aside. He looked at me with warm but stern eyes.

"I told you I can't take you there."

David had told me from the start when I had fist mentioned Terminus that he didn't like the place and he refused to go there, although he would never actually tell me why.

"I don't understand why you won't take me there." I pressed on.

"Nothing but bad memories at that place." He replied, picking up his spoon again and scooping up the soup thoughtfully.

He always spoke as if he had been there before, and it always sounded like it was painful for him. I just wished he would tell me the source of his pain.

"Are there bad people there?"

David was gently turning his head from side to side.

"Not bad, just a little… lost."

"What do you mean? Everyone who comes there is lost, right?"

"I guess... You don't always want to follow those who are lost though do you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not entirely sure what he was referring to.

"It's better just to stay put. In a place you know." He added.

I had spent three days with David and he had never given me reason to mistrust him. He had been a complete gentleman, giving me space to be alone with my thoughts and chatting with me by the fire when I was in the mood. He was a godly man and insisted on saying grace before every meal, and thanking the lord every time we scavenged a house and found something of use. He had known this place before the turn, I had gathered that much, but every time I asked him about his life before he would clam up, just like when I asked him about Terminus.

I poked around at the piece of stewed meat covered in broth. It tasted pretty terrible, and was most likely just offal.

"I wouldn't mind some real food you know...Somethin' that doesn't come from a can." I thought out loud.

"I only had a small harvest last month, don't get much during winter."

He was talking about his small vegetable patch out back which was bare and almost frozen over.

"There's still meat out there. I wouldn't mind shooting at somethin' that moves."

"I don't much have the stomach for meat that moves."

He continued spooning the soup into his mouth staring into his almost empty bowl.

"Are you against killin' animals or somethin'?"

"I'm fine with killing animals, just not when there are other alternatives."

David poked around at a piece of meat in his soup. "Someone has already done the killing for us, and put it in a convenient can."

"That won't last forever." I assured him.

"Well Lil Miss, when the time comes that I must kill to eat, then I guess I'll have to. That time isn't now."

I felt my lip turn out in a pout and I continued to push what might be called food around in my bowl. I wondered if my pouting would have the same effect on David as it did on my dad.

David let out a long impatient sigh, and then gave me a defeated grin. "Okay, you two can go out tomorrow."

I beamed up at him, happy in my success. In truth I didn't really want to go hunting for animals, but I did want to improve my marksmanship. If I ever saw Daryl again, I was going to show him just how much I wasn't obligated to him.

* * *

I was washing up after dinner, enjoying the hot soapy water on my hands, when I heard the piano playing from the parlour. I pulled the plug, letting the sink drain and then dried off my hands on the tea towel and went out to give David an audience.

He was struggling somewhat at the piano, missing keys and hesitating between each move, like an amateur.

"Did you play much before?" I asked.

He was startled a little and turned to face me. "Nope. It was my wife and sons who played."

That was the first time he had said anything about his family. I walked further into the room and stood behind him, wanting to know more.

"Are they dead?" I asked cautiously.

He turned his head back to the piano keys. "My wife and two of my sons are." He admitted sadly.

"How many sons did you have?"

"I had three."

"So where is the last one?"

David let out a sigh and then reached in front of him and started thumbing at the pages of the song book.

"Not here."

Another one of his cryptic answers and I doubted I would get any more out of him, at least not tonight. He looked completely morose, with his downcast eyes and skin sagging downward around his mouth. It was the saddest I had seen him since I had been here.

"You know, I can play a little." I offered.

He looked up at me eagerly, all the sorrow suddenly gone from his face.

"Would you, please?"

I motioned for him to move over on the stool and he slid off the end and stood up reaching for the song book and started flicking through the pages.

"Here play this one, it's my favourite."

He pointed to the notes on the open page.

It was Amazing grace. A song I had heard and sung dozens of times. He had just asked me to play the piano, but I was overwhelmed with the desire to sing as well.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,  
that saved a wretch like me.  
I once was lost but now am found,  
was blind but now I see.

When I turned to see if he was enjoying the song, he had tears streaming down his face, and was clearly overcome with emotion.

"Are you okay." I said reaching out a hand to touch his arm.

He wiped away his tears with his sleeve and then gently touched my hand on his arm. "Yes, you play the piano _and_ sing beautifully."

He was looking down at the piano keys now with a frown on his face.

"Are you thinkin' of your family?" I queried

He nodded his head slowly. "Yeah." He pointed back to the page. "Why don't you finish the song, lil Miss?"

I put my hands back to the keys and continued playing, wondering if he would ever tell me more.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,  
and grace my fears relieved;  
how precious did that grace appear  
the hour I first believed.

* * *

The next day after I had helped David scrub some towels against the washboard and dust out the parlour, and stack some firewood. I spent a little extra time with the firewood, hefting it over my head and pressing it in to the air. It wasn't only useful to improve my marksmanship. If ever wanted to use that crossbow without Daryl's help, I would need to build up the strength in my arms and back too. When I was done with my strength training, Mix and I took to the woods nearby to see what we could catch. David had tried to deter me from going out as much as possible that day. He refused to let me take the car out, not that I was sure I remembered how to drive anyway. He spent the whole morning insisting I wouldn't find much out at this time of year, but I remembered Daryl had always managed to bring something home in winter. His last hurdle was that I take the single shot rifle, said it made less noise and I was less likely to go spraying ammunition all over the place. That didn't bother me, a crossbow was only single shot too.

We hadn't ventured all that far into the woods before I caught sight of a rabbit burrow only just visible under the thick cover of damp leaves. I dropped down pressing my knee into the icy cold and wet earth and carefully and silently examined my surroundings, looking for further signs of rabbit activity. The silence was broken when Mix let out a happy bark and bounded off towards the burrow and excitedly stuffed his snout inside.

"No, Mixy!" I called after him.

Suddenly a bundle of grey fur was darting out across the leaves in to the distance. I hoisted the rifle up, took aim, fired and watched in satisfaction as the grey bundle tumbled along the ground.

Hitting a moving target, at that speed and at that distance, that was something I wish I could brag to Daryl about.

Mixy bounded over to the rabbit and began sniffing at it. Her tail was still wagging back and forth which meant no walkers were nearby, this was good, as I wasn't done yet. I picked up the rabbit and looped the rope, which was tied in a knot at my shoulder, around its neck. Then I tucked my hand into the pouch at my waist and pulled out another rifle round. I opened the bolt lever and dropped the round in, then pushed it down and closed the lever.

"Did you plan that Mix?" I asked the dog.

He answered with a tail wag.

I walked on further into the bush with Mix by my side, nose to the ground sniffing out what I assumed to be a trail. He stopped suddenly and started bounding side to side and barking. I began wishing I had left him at home, he was going to scare everything away with the noise he was making. I looked over to the tree in front of us and saw two squirrels dashing across the branches. That must have been what Mix was excited about.

A target as small as a squirrel, racing across a tree - if I got that I would be very impressed. I took aim and fired and as I half expected, I missed.

"Oh well." I said with a shrug of my shoulders, I turned to Mix who had his front legs stretched out in front of him in the leaves, his hind legs were up in the air and his tail held out stiff behind him. His lips were curled and he let out a low growl, a sound I had never heard him make before.

"What is it boy?" I asked following his line of sight.

From behind the tree that the squirrels had been racing through, a walker came stumbling out, its clothes brown with filth, its skin grey and rotting with blackening flesh exposed around its neck. Its dead eyes locked on to mine and it staggered towards me, arms outstretched and mouth moaning.

I didn't think Mix was trying to tell me about the squirrels after all.

I lined up the walker and went to take a shot, then the empty clink of the firing pin reminded me it was a single shot rifle and I had forgotten to reload after taking a shot at those squirrels. I carefully backed away from the walker while fumbling around in my pouch for another round. Mix was going crazy now darting around in circles barking and growling and sneering.

I dropped a round into the rifle and then drew the rifle up ready to take aim, taking a step back to steady myself. I backed in to something behind me, it was hard, but forgiving, so it wasn't a tree. Then the rotting stench filled my nose and I felt the cold dead hands grasp on to my neck.

I took a step to twist around and slipped on the wet leaves, letting out a scream and firing into the air as I fell to the ground. The walker was crawling on top of me now, heading for my face. I took the rifle in two hands and swiped it across my chest hitting the stock into the walker's skull. It was still dragging itself forward, pulling on my sweater, so I smashed at it a few more times until its skull exploded and slushy brain oozed out all over my chest.

I rolled the body off me and made a move to stand up but the other walker was right near me now. It lunged towards me and I braced myself for impact, but suddenly it was yanked backward falling flat on its face. Mix was behind it pulling at the leg of the pants.

I quickly stood up and glanced around ready to make my escape and felt my blood run cold as I saw we were now surrounded with walkers.

"Let's go Mix!" I shouted to the dog.

He let go of the walker and bounded to my side. I tried to load another round into the gun but my hands were slick with sweat and fumbling in panic. I knocked the pouch and watched in horror as all the rounds tumbled to the ground and were lost among the mud and leaves.

Mix was running circles around me now barking and growling as ferociously as a little fluffy dog could. One of the walkers lunged for him, but Mix skilfully dodged out of the way, and the walker fell to the ground. I used the butt of the rifle to smash that walkers head in while it was down. It sent a stream of blood and gore up my arms and all over my hands, something I was accustomed to.

There were still three more walkers stumbling towards us. I swung the rifle out and let it smack into the head of one with a wet crunch, knocking it to the ground, and then took another swing at it just to make sure it would stay down. The rifle slipped through all the blood and sweat on my fingers and went flying over the head of a nearby walker, falling into a bush behind it.

I turned around to make a run for it but as I stepped one of the walkers lunged at my feet and I fell to the ground. Mix was on to him biting at its clothing and trying to drag it off me, but this one was determined, it kept crawling towards me dragging Mix behind him.

I reached down and pulled out the steak knife I had got from the cutlery drawer and put in my boot the first night I had stayed with David. I had put it there as I wasn't sure of David's intention. I had not needed it for David, but I was glad I had chosen to keep it in there. It wasn't the best weapon, but at this point it was all I had. I forced the knife through the walkers eyeball and up into its skull and then kicked it away from my legs.

There were two more left now, stumbling slowly towards me. David would be angry if I left that rifle, and I was sure I could handle the two so I decided to end them. While Mix darted between them providing a distraction I drove the steak knife in through the ear of one. I tried the same on the second, but its skull was much firmer. I was wrestling with the walker now, pushing its snapping jaws away from my throat and trying to pry its skeletal hands away from my shoulder. It was a strong one, and I thought it must have been freshly turned with the way it was overpowering me. I had backed my way into a tree now and panic was setting in as I felt myself weakening. Then a flash of white and fur was in my face and the walker was knocked to the ground. Mix was now tearing at its throat, throwing his head from side to side. I took my knife and stabbed it into the walker's brain until it was finally still.

I was covered in blood and mud and walker brains, and my hands were trembling and my heart was pounding in my ears. Mix was covered in mud, dirt and leaves and his mouth was a crimson red from where he had bit the walker. I had been scared for my life, but now I was scared for Mix. What would happen if a dog ate walker flesh?

"Think we should head home." I said shakily to my faithful companion.

* * *

As I made my way back towards the funeral home I could see David running out towards me. He approached me with lines of concern creasing his forehead.

"What happened to you? You're covered in blood."

"It's not mine." I said stumbling on my trembling legs.

He grabbed me by shoulders to steady me. "You run into trouble?"

I nodded my head and then I felt tears starting to brew and sobs starting to take hold of my body.

"Beth, are you okay?"

"I just...I just came so close!"

David started shaking his head and his face twisted in anguish. "I shouldn't have let you go out there alone." David said regretfully.

"I wasn't alone, Mix did a good job of protecting me." I said looking down at the dog.

"Well we must give thanks to our little friend."

We both turned to Mix who was sitting by my side, and nuzzling his nose into my leg affectionately.

"He bit a walker." I said solemnly.

David gave Mix a quick rub behind the ear. "He's done that a dozen times, lil Miss, and he's still the same old Mix."

He gave me a reassuring smile and then pulled my arm over his shoulder and walked me back to the house.

* * *

I was still crying when we got to the door, completely overcome with emotion. I don't know why I was taking it so hard. I had come close to being mauled by walker's dozens of times before.

David was concerned for me too, he took me into the house without even making me take my boots off and I cringed on his behalf when I saw the trail of mud and blood I left behind on the polished floorboards. He didn't seem bothered and continued on in and up the stairs and to the upstairs bathroom. He sat me down on the edge of the bathtub. And then ducked back out of the room and returned a minute later holding a grey fleece sweater and pants.

"You wash up Lil' Miss, and put these on. I'll get a fire started."

I took the clothes gratefully and watched him leave, closing the door behind him.

I glanced around me at the familiar bathroom. The same one that Daryl and I had discovered over a week ago. I was sitting on the same bath he had told me he was going to fill for me. I smiled as I imagined him carting all that water up the stairs. I thought about how he had done the same over at the house in the Pecan grove. He had been so good to me trying to help me heal after being with Len and the others, and he had done such a good job of it. Len was just a distant memory now. I missed Daryl terribly. I missed Maggie and the others, and it was killing me to think they were only a couple hours' drive away. They didn't even know where I was or who I was with. Would they be scared for me? Or would they somehow now I was okay?

I think maybe that was what had made me shaky today after the walker attack, knowing that if I died out there, none of them would ever know what happened to me. Although I'm sure they could make assumptions, there was a certain peace you could have in _knowing_ what has become of your loved ones.

* * *

After I had cleaned up and put the new cloths on, I bundled up my bloody mess of clothing and took them downstairs to where David was sitting by the fire. He jumped up when he saw me and stepped towards me.

"I'll see these washed for you." He said, taking the clothing.

I nodded my head, and he pushed past me towards the doorway.

"I need to leave, David." I said firmly, interrupting his stride.

He stopped and turned to me with a look of confusion on his face.

"I need to go to Terminus." I added.

David began shaking his head again. He opened his mouth to reply but before he could talk I interrupted him.

"I could have died today, and none of my loved ones would have known."

"But you didn't." He insisted.

"But I could have. I need to be with them. I need to know what has happened with them."

David was still shaking his head at me, but I could see a softening in his gaze.

"Please David, you need to take me to them. I need to be with my family. What's the point in livin' if I can't be with the ones I love?"

He was silent for a moment, frowning down at my bundle of clothing thoughtfully. After a few seconds of thought he lifted his head slowly and gave me a small smile and a gentle nod.


	14. Empty

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter II**

**Empty**

**AN: I don't know if they're in a steel box or a fibreglass box, so lets just say its steel for now.**

I couldn't remember how I got here. I couldn't even remember how I had left Terminus. I wasn't even sure what had made me want to come back here, to the funeral home. This was the place Beth and I had said we wanted to stay, before she had been taken. Was there some part of me that thought this is where she would go if I lost her?

My body was aching and exhausted, and my skin was both clammy and cold and my clothing wet with what I assumed to be sweat. I must have been running for hours, or maybe even days. I couldn't remember when I slept last. My legs were so tired and numb it felt like I was just gliding on air, but when I looked down I could see the muddy boots stomping along the ground, and I knew they were my own.

I kept on gliding past the line of stones growing out of the ground like grey, giant fingers pushing through the earth. One of them looked different and out of place, like it had recently been changed. I glanced at it as I slid past. It read 'Hershel Greene'. I didn't remember it saying that the last time I was here.

I continued up to the house, and stepped up on to the porch and pushed open the wooden door that was already ajar. The inside was clean like the last time I had been here, except it seemed a little different, a little more bare, like something was missing. I was sure there were pictures on the wall before, and weren't the walls floral? I went into the first doorway and examined the row of seating in front of the open casket. That room also seemed to be strange. The flowers by the casket were bright, fresh and living. Where would someone find flowers like that around here? I stepped back out into the hall and heard an unexpected yet familiar sound, traveling down the stairway.

It sounded like a muffled cry, and then a gasp, like someone was in trouble, and it sounded like it was a woman.

I raced up the stairs taking them two at a time and stormed over across the wooden floorbaords to the closed bedroom door where the sounds were coming from. I didn't bother turning the handle, somehow I knew it would be locked. I lifted my leg and drove it forward into the door, splintering it at the latch and forcing it to collapse into the room.

Before me was a brass posted bed, sitting below a sun filled window. On the bed the sheets were twisted and bunched and pushed to the side. On top of the bed was the milky white back of a woman. The curves were firm and subtle and familiar. I recognised the way the hips flared out just barely at the waist, the gentle hollowing than ran along the length of the spine, the blonde hair that curled softly over her shoulders, and sprang out in messy wisps at the top. That was Beth. She was grinding her hips around in a circular motion and upon them were strong dark skinned hands pressing into her pale skin. They didn't even seem bothered by me barging in though the door.

"Beth?" I said in a voice that wasn't my own.

She turned her head gently and I could see the profile of her face. Her big blue eyes looked back at me, still full of innocence, and her thin lips drew up into a grin. Then with a gentle and controlled voice, of someone who knew exactly what she was doing, she spoke.

"Daryl."

* * *

"Daryl?"

I could feel fine fingers pressed into my shoulder, through the layers of cotton and leather. I knew the voice that was calling my name. It was familiar, but it wasn't Beth, it was the other Greene. I opened my eyes and snapped my head around to the direction of the voice.

It was still dark inside, but it was light enough for me to make out Maggie Greene's facial features. She had jumped back when I had snapped my head around, and now looked down on me like I was some kind of rabid dog that just bit its master.

"What is it?" I said, giving my face a firm wipe downward from forehead to chin in an effort to wake myself up.

I stared up into the ceiling of the box car. It was covered in bloody fingerprints and indentations from where we had tried finding a weakness in the top. I was laying on my back with my head pressed hard against the warn timber fibre boards, not the most comfortable bed, but I had slept in worse. I pushed myself to a seated position and gave my neck a stretch and rolled my shoulders around, trying to loosen up a bit.

It had all been a dream. I wasn't outside enjoying the fresh air, and smell of rain and pine. I wasn't anywhere near that graveyard, or the funeral home, and I hadn't just been watching Beth fuck Anton.

I was in a room with eleven other people, some familiar and some not so much so.

"I think you were havin' a nightmare. You were breathin' real fast and it sounded like you called out for Beth." Maggie informed me.

I was glad for the darkness when I felt heat rise from my neck to my cheeks. How often had I called out Beth's name last night? She was in all my dreams, and nightmares.

I gave my shoulders a shrug trying to look as casual as possible.

"Just a bit worried 'bout 'er is all."

Maggie stuck out her bottom lip and lowered her eyes.

"She's not the one to worry 'bout." She said quietly and then looked around at our enclosure. "She's not the one stuck in a box car."

A steel box car, with the only light coming from around the openings of the side and back doors. Down one end was a stinking cesspit of what we all used as the shitter and pisser. Two five gallon bins, with nothing to use for toilet paper. We had all avoided having a dump over the last couple of days, but the smell from previous inhabitants still lingered, and I knew from the way my guts were twisting that we were going to have to add to it soon.

Down the other end was the twelve of us, with our bottles of water and paper food bowls. All cowered and huddled together like mistreated circus animals. In the early mornings and the nights it was like an icebox in here, and in the middle of the day it was like a sauna but we still all sat close together- well they did – I tried to keep to myself and keep my thoughts hidden.

My family was in here with me. Maggie, Beths sister. Her partner Glenn. Bob and Sasha who looked like they may be a couple now by the way they sat curled together. There was Rick, Carl and Michonne too. Carl spent most of his time curled up on Michonne's lap, and Rick spent his time watching over Carl with a guilty look on his face.

Then there were the newcomers. Tara, a trainee police officer who Glenn had come upon on the way to Terminus. There was Rosita and Abraham who were part of some military support group, and then there was the fat science guy with the stupid haircut. Apparently he was a big deal, but so far he had just been a big pain in the ass.

The science guy, Eugene, was watching Maggie and I talk and thought he would add some of his useless knowledge to the conversation.

"As part of the 'final solution' in 1941, the Jews were shipped out to concentration camps in freight trains."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, which wasn't much, and looked at Eugene.

"They were called _Sonderzüge –_that means_ 'special trains'. _The cars were locked and windowless. They transported people like cattle."

"Thanks for the history lesson, but we don't need to hear it right now, okay?" Interrupted Rick. His eyes glanced over at Carl who had his head resting against Michonne's shoulder. The kid didn't need any reminders of our fate.

"Just thought you might like to know. They had no food or water, and there were something like 150 people per car, so we're not doing so bad."

"That's enough Eugene." Michonne snapped, giving Eugene one of her trademark scowls, while holding Carl protectively.

Eugene pressed his lips together for a few seconds and then let them open again.

"Don't think they're gonna gas us though, think they've got other plans for us."

"Shut up Eugene!" Came four or five different voices at once.

"It's okay guys." Carl spoke up for himself. "I know we're totally fucked."

"Hey, watch your language." Scolded Rick, wagging a disciplinary finger at his son.

"Seriously dad? We live in a world where people eat people, living people, and you're worried about my language?"

Everyone turned to look at Carl who had obviously come to the same conclusion we all had. Carl looked around at all of our faces.

"I'm not stupid. I've heard what you guys have been saying at night, and I can hear the screams of the others just as well as you can. They want to eat us, don't they?"

We all looked to Rick to see how he was going to respond.

He gave his nose an awkward rub and then sniffed. "I don't know."

"I would say there's a good chance that they are. They're feeding us powdered milk. Milk has the same caloric value as sugar you know? They're trying to fatten us up..."

We all turned to Eugene with groans and shushes and looks of warning.

"…and those bones out there, the ones we passed when we came in, they had the discernable structure of the human skeleton."

"Hey science guy." I butted in. "Why don't you use that big head of yours to think us a way out of here."

Eugene looked around at the surrounding walls, floors and ceilings.

"Well we did try to find the points of frailty, but there were none." Eugene nodded his head towards Carl. "and young Carl's hands weren't strong enough to shift the gears in the doors."

"We know what we tried brainiac, think up somethin' new why don't ya?" I growled.

"Don't think its brains that will get this job done." Rick said, glancing back and forth between me and Eugene. "Think we gotta use some brawn."

We all looked to him waiting for him to explain.

"It's been light out for a while now, they'll be bringin' us some more milk and water soon. The last time we weren't ready, we didn't know what to expect, but this time we do. They only send a few to the door, we just gotta be ready for 'em, rush out at 'em when they open the door, take their weapons and use them as hostages."

"I don't know Rick, they shot at your hostage before." Michonne pointed out.

Rick was nodding his head. "Then we'll use them as human shields. We just gotta get their weapons, take as many down as we can and make for the fence. It's a no brainer- like I said."

"Sounds simple." Said Tara

"Sounds risky." Said Abraham.

"I calculate our chances of success to be rather low in this." Added Eugene.

"What other choice do we have?" Asked Rick.

We all looked around at each other trying to get a feel of what we were all thinking.

"I'm with you, man." I said as I strode over to Rick and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Beats sittin' 'round in 'ere doin' nothin'."

"What have we got to lose?" Michonne said with a shrug.

* * *

We were all set to put the plan into action. Abraham, Rick and I would stand behind the door, while the others stood back. Then we would rush out at them and make for their weapons. The others would come out after us and give us back up, or go for any other guys that were around, and then we would make for the fence.

"As soon as all of us are out there, you follow, get low, stay low and run." Rick instructed Carl.

"You don't look back, you don't wait on us, you just get to the fence, get the bag and get out of here."

"I'm not gonna leave you guys." Carl said defiantly. "What the hell am I gonna do out there on my own?"

"Survive." Rick replied with a snarl.

Carl took a step back and started pouting at him, but he knew not to argue. Rick gave a sigh and softened his tone.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, Carl. I just need to get you out of this, I can't see you hurt."

"What about me, dad? You think I want to see _you_ hurt?" Carl pleaded.

"That's why you don't look back, son." Replied Rick firmly.

Carl looked like he was about to protest but he was interrupted by Maggie shushing. Her eye was pressed up to the gap in the door, peering out.

"They're coming." She whispered turning back to us.

We all shuffled into our positions waiting for the next move.

"Move to the back of the car." A voice demanded from outside.

Rick, Abraham and I stood by the side of the door and waited for the clanking and grinding of metal as they moved the latch and rolled it open.

The muzzle of a combat rifle was what entered first.

"Roll your empty bottles towards the door." The voice instructed.

The others all rolled the bottles and we watched as hands reached in and collected the bottles. Rick waved a hand and the three of us all bounded out the open doorway knocking into the waiting men.

I had grabbed the first guy, a young guy with blonde hair and ginger stubble on his chin. His eyes filled with shock and terror as I pinned him to the ground and started smashing the handguard of the combat rifle into his nose. I couldn't see anyone else, or hear anything else, just the grunts I was giving, the cries he was giving and the crunch of metal on bone.

I stopped pounding on the kids face and pulled the rifle out of his grip and stood up to see what was happening.

Rick and Abraham had guns pressed to their temples and a frustrated look on their faces. Another one of the Terminus people, a lady, had her rifle pointed into the opening of the car.

"You think no-ones tried that before?" Another man was strutting over to me now, he was balding with grey stubble growing out of his chin and had an arrogant look on his face.

"You think we're stupid? You think we don't know you're sitting in there planning your escape?"

Another guy was approaching from behind me and I lifted the rifle, turned and aimed it into his face.

"You best hand over the gun, before anyone else gets hurt." He pointed at the young guy at my feet who was gripping on to his nose and sobbing. "I'm not too happy about what you did to young Ben there, but I'll have to let it slide, we're not ready for you to die – yet."

"Hand it over, man." Said the guy who had the rifle in my face. I glanced over to Rick who nodded his head defeated. We weren't going to win this round. I gripped the rifle by the hand guard and the stock and pushed it angrily into the guy's chest.

The younger guy, Ben, Scrambled off the ground and to his feet, holding his broken nose.

"You should do them next, these guys are dangerous, just look at 'em, look what they did to my face." Ben snorted angrily, jutting a finger towards his swollen nose.

"You know how Gareth rotates his stock, he's not ready for these ones yet."

"Yeah, well on this occasion we should have the fresh stuff first." Protested Ben.

The bald man tilted his head back towards the open train car. "You all hop on back in there. We're not ready for you yet."

I gave the kid one last sneer and turned to followed Rick and Abraham as they climbed back into the train car.

The nine faces that stared back at us from the darkness all had the look of disappointment in their eyes, and as I heard the door roll shut behind me, I felt my heart sink with disappointment too.

There were too many, and they were too organised. There was no way we were going to get out of here, which didn't involve mass slaughter, and most likely of us.

* * *

This time I woke up in the middle of the woods. Another fucking dream, and to make things worse I was butt naked. I could see something moving in the bushes and hear the snapping of branches and cracking of twigs. Some kind of instinct took hold of me and I started running, not in any particular direction, I just ran.

I had only taken a few steps before I heard a loud thump and felt a searing pain in my left shoulder. I turned my head to look down at it and saw an arrowhead protruding through the flesh.

I gripped around the arrowhead feeling the warm sticky blood that was oozing out of the wound. I could feel the length of the shaft running through the muscles in my shoulder and exiting out the back. I turned my head to my back to see a few inches of black shaft and white fletching. It was too long to be a crossbow bolt but it looked somewhat familiar.

I turned around to see who had shot me, and there standing before me with an arrow nocked and ready to let fly, was Beth. Her blonde hair was tied back in a tight ponytail pulling her temples taught, her face was heavily made up in black eye liner and blood red lipstick, and she was wearing army issue camos. She was holding a compound bow, an airborne by the look of it, like Len's bow.

"What're you doin', Beth?"

"Just huntin'." She said casually before letting the arrow go and sending it into my other shoulder.

I let out a growl as I fell to the ground. Both shoulders were throbbing now, and I crossed my arms over so I could hold on to each.

Beth walked over to me and dropped herself down on top of me heavily, pushing all the air out of my lungs.

"You taught me well."

She tossed the bow to the ground and then placed her hands down on top of mine that were resting on my shoulders, causing a new wave of pain to run through my body. I grunted through the discomfort.

"Don't know about you, but I'm starving." She gave me a wide grin and then threw her head down into my neck and started tearing at the flesh with her teeth.

* * *

I shot up straight from my position on the ground and tried to get control of my gasps, not wanting anyone to know I had another bad dream.

I _was_ starving, and I think it was the growling in my stomach that had woken me from my nightmare. After our attempt at escape yesterday we weren't given any more food, which was unfortunate because now we were all weak with hunger and none of us could think clearly.

Every plan we had come up with sounded exactly the same. Running, tackling, dodging, killing, climbing. Some of us had even thought of ways to outsmart them, convince them we were no good to them, no good to eat, that they had to let us go. Some plans involved us convincing them that we would help them, support their cause. But none of us, not even smart ass Eugene, knew how to make any plan work.

Everyone had huddled into their little groups talking about their histories. What college they went to, where they met their first loves, the fun times they had as kids. I didn't know what any of that was like so I just kept to myself, and listened to what everyone else had to say.

Everyone was sitting in there Kumbaya sharing circle when Rick tapped Carl on the shoulder and pulled him off to the side. It was the first time I had seen them alone together since we had been put in here.

They were talking in low voices and I had the feeling I shouldn't be listening to their conversation, but the only other thing to do was turn myself in knots stressing about Beth, or listen to the bullshit happy stories of everyone else, so I let my ears absorb what Rick and Carl were saying.

"I'm sorry about what I did, about what you had to see. I know you're mad at me…"Rick started explaining.

"I'm not angry at you dad." Carl interrupted. "I heard what you said to Daryl, when I was in the truck, about that man, about what you did to him. I'm not angry, and I'm not scared of you."

Rick was watching him with a pained look on his face.

"I know you did what you had to, and I…I'm glad you did it." Carl shrugged his shoulders like what he had seen that night was nothing at all. "I'm not just glad, I'm pleased…satisfied. He got what he deserved."

Rick nodded and gave a weak grin. "You just been real quiet, you haven't said much to me since we been here."

"Well…I'm a little…scared, dad."

Rick reached an arm around Carl's small shoulders and pulled him against his chest. Carl tucked his head under Ricks chin. "I'll do whatever I can to protect you Carl, I couldn't be there for your mom, and I couldn't be there for Judith, but as long as I have breath in my lungs I'll be here to protect you."

It was a father and son moment I had never experienced. But I had a pretty good feeling that what I had just seen and heard was love.

* * *

Everyone kept up the chatter throughout the day. I was amazed of how much these people could talk about nothing and everything. It made a droning sound that echoed around the steel box and vibrated through my head making me want to sleep the day away. I felt my head nod to my chest but then I was pulled back from slumber by a sudden change in the air.

Everyone was suddenly silent and I looked up at them to see what had stopped the chatter. Now I could hear what the others could hear. It sounded like gun fire, and a lot of it. There was shouting and yelling and orders being thrown around. The sound was somewhat muted, so it must be coming from the other side of Terminus. Maybe they were being attacked? Maybe there was someone coming to rescue us? That's was a stupid thought. It was probably just a walker attack. Maybe all these cannibal fucks would get eaten themselves, and then we could just be left here to waste away and die peacefully, before coming back and wandering around in the box car for the rest of eternity.

The gun fire didn't last all that long, and it fell back into silence. We were all quiet for a few minutes waiting and wanting for something to happen, but nothing did. There was no rescue, there were no walker groans outside the door, it was the same as it had been for the last few days.

The chatter started up again and I let myself fall back in to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to total darkness. It was so dark I had to touch my face to make sure my eyes were open. I had never remembered it being this dark, but I had slept through the dark nights over the last few days. Sleep had actually come pretty easy to me despite our intense situation. I guess that was the exhaustion caused from extreme boredom. I sat for a moment trying to let my eyes adjust to the darkness but it seemed like the longer I waited the darker it became. I listened for a moment waiting to hear a sigh or a snort, or hushed whispers or some sound of sleeping, but I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't even feel the heat radiating from the distant bodies. It was like everyone had gone.

I pushed my hands against the floor and up to a stand and began feeling around the car with my toes. I could feel nothing but the firmness of the timber of the floor below my boots. I stepped out into the darkness, waving my hands, investigating the air in front of me, while taking another step and then another. The train car seemed to have grown, I was sure that the walls had only been a few yards away. I started running now just trying to find the wall of the train car, and not caring about stumbling in the dark. I called out, and the sound of my voice just disappeared into the darkness with nothing to echo the sound back to me. I now realised that I wasn't in a box car anymore, I was just running around in a pitch dark empty area.

Then I saw a small white dot over in the distance. I turned towards it and started running again, calling out to it. As I got closer the dot grew bigger and started to stretch out into a pointed cylindrical shape. The light from it was also illuminating a figure behind it. It was a female figure and as I came nearer I recognised the slight body shape and the blonde hair. Beth was standing there, dressed in the clothes I had last seen her in, although somehow cleaner. Her blonde hair was tied to the side with a thin plait curling down by her neck, and she had a soft smile on her lips. Her eyes peered up at me from lowered lids. She was holding a candle that had melted into her bare hands. The wax had trickled down over her thumb and between her fingers and set hard in the shape of tears hanging off the underside of her hands. I stopped myself before her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I'm here to give you hope." She said in her gentle warm and familiar voice.

* * *

I woke up in the darkness again, but not the same type of darkness. This was filled with familiar bodies making familiar sounds. It had just been another dream about Beth, she wasn't really here, but somehow the candle was. Actually it wasn't a candle it was a flashlight. How did someone get a flashlight?

The uneasiness caused by the sudden appearance of a flashlight caused me to shoot upright and jump to my feet ready to fight or flee. The door to the car was opened and a grey blue light was cast across the wooden floor and on to a line of people standing with weapons aimed towards us. The leader of the group at Terminus, Gareth, was among them.

He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully and letting his eyes rest on each of us, examining us from head to toe. He stopped rubbing his chin and pointed his finger out towards Abraham.

"The commando." He ordered. Then his eyes moved over to Rick. "The ring leader."

Four of his people stepped forward moved over to Rick and Abraham while the others kept their weapons aimed on us.

"Where are you taking us?" Asked Rick

"Out of here, you want to get out of here, right?" replied Gareth.

The men made Rick and Abraham turn around and started looping zip ties around their hands.

"What about my son?" Rick asked, turning his head to Carl who was gripping onto Michonne's arm.

"Not his time." Replied Gareth, with a shake of his head. "Alright get them out of here." He said to his men.

"Dad?" Screeched Carl in his breaking teen voice.

"It's okay son, you stay with Michonne and the others. You'll be okay." Rick said unconvincingly.

"I'm supposed to stay with you dad…you're supposed…to stay with me." Carl said between strained sobs.

Rick turned his eyes to Gareth and gave him a pleading look.

"I don't think you want your boy to be with you." Gareth advised.

"Take me." I blurted out.

Everyone turned to look at me.

"You his son too?" Gareth said with a chuckle.

"No take me, instead of him, Rick, the ring leader." I said, pointing at Rick.

Gareth ran his eyes over me and then gave a shrug. "Makes no difference." He turned back to Rick. "I'll let you guys have a few more moments together if that's what you really want."

Gareth waved a hand to the man who had hold of Rick and pointed him in my direction.

"Take the archer instead."

I willingly held my hands up and let them be zip tied together. I was fine to take Ricks place. I didn't want to see him and Carl separated, and I was anxious to get out of here and get to the next stage of my journey. Even if the next stage was the last.

"Thanks." Rick said with a nod of his head. His voice was strong, but there was pain in his eyes.

"No Problem, brother." I replied.

"Take these off?" Rick queried pushing his tied arms out behind him towards Gareth.

Gareth shook his head. "You're still gonna need them. Don't come by those easy you know."

I may have saved Rick for now, but if they didn't come up with something soon, it would have all been for nothing.

They lined Abraham and I up at the door. The girl Rosita was sobbing and the rest of the faces of my fellow captives all looked as grey as a walker's. I felt like I should say goodbye or something meaningful to them, but the only person I really wanted to say anything to was Beth, and she wasn't here. So I kept my head turned towards the fur lined collar of Abraham's coat, and marched forward.

We were pushed out the door and down the steps and made to wait while they closed the door behind us. They started marching us forward and then to the right towards a concrete ramp that led up to a huge metal rolled door.

I knew the room they were leading us to was going to be the where they killed us. We had nothing to lose now, the others were safely away in the box car, may as well take out as many as I could before they took me out.

"You in?" I asked Abraham, without need to explain.

He gave a nod of his head and threw his bulky body into the man in front of him knocking him to the ground. I stepped backwards landing my foot in hard to the instep of the man behind me. He wailed in pain and began hopping. I turned and kicked forcefully into his kneecap making him fall to the ground. I lined up his head with my boot and started stomping it into the ground.

Then everything went black.

**AN: I couldn't resist using Norman's candle in the dark reference.**

**I'm sure they're going to use Eugene's brain to get out of there in the canon, but I really would love it if they were rescued...by Beth.**


	15. In Town

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter III**

**In Town**

**AN:There was so much information I wanted to cover about Teminus, but I really wanted Daryl and Beth to be reunited, so I skimmed over some of the details. I might explain more in later chapters.**

**The bible verse in here is Deuteronomy 28:49-58**

***Warning* Contains references to Cannibalism.**

The red brick and sheet metal rooved buildings of Terminus were surrounded by an expansive chain link fence, lightly rusted, around ten feet high and topped with barbed wire. We had been driving alongside it since turning off the main road and down a small access path which had been obscured by low growing bushes and trees.

I was in a state of giddy excitement as we made the approach. It had been over a week since I had last seen Maggie, and since I had that fight with Daryl. I was hopeful that Daryl did end up making his own way back to Terminus after I had hurt him. Once he had calmed down I was sure he would want to be back with his family, even if he was still angry at me. If he did make it back there, Maggie had probably told him I was with Anton. He probably thought I had left them all to be with him. When I told him about who Anton really was, and what he had tried to do, I wondered would he be angry or relieved?

David pulled the car up in front of a chain linked gate with the road extending beyond it and turning in, out of sight, behind the red brick buildings. Standing on the opposite side of the gate was a man wearing a fur lined bomber hat and a woollen coat. He was watching us cautiously with the muzzle of his rifle poking through one of the diamonds of the fence wire, aimed in our direction.

David turned off the ignition, pushed the door open and stepped out of the car. He let out a groan and arched his back in an effort to recover from the one and a half hours of sitting. He stepped away from the car and began approaching the gate, leaving the driver's side door open behind him. Mix was whimpering and pawing at the backseat impatiently, wanting to follow his master. I reached back and gave him a comforting scratch under the chin.

"What are you lot doing coming in by the back roads?" The man questioned in a rough and brusque tone.

David gingerly paced towards the man with the gun, holding his hands out submissively.

"Afternoon Kevin, I see you got your position on watch after all." David responded in an amicable tone.

The man, Kevin, pulled the gun back through the fence and leaned in closer, making inspection through one of the diamonds.

"David?" The man's jaw dropped and mouth gaped at David in awe as recognition set in.

"Oh man, where have you been?"

"Went back to the old neighbourhood for a bit, to take some time out." David replied. He lowered his hands and tucked them into the pockets of his jeans.

Kevin nodded towards the car. "Who you got with you?"

David turned and beckoned me out of the car with a wave. I opened the door and stepped out and walked forward trying to smile as sweetly as possible, hoping to impress my new possible friend. Mix jumped out of the car and followed at my heel.

"This here is a dear friend of mine, her name is Beth, she's been separated from her family." David explained.

I raised my hand and gave a sheepish wave.

Kevin gave me a quick up and down and then tipped his head in greeting to me with a warm smile on his face. "Welcome Beth, and God bless."

He started fumbling around at the padlock and chain that held the gate together and then the gate was pushed open with a creak and a shudder, that shook the whole fence. He stepped towards me with his hand outstretched to mine. I took it absorbing the ice cold touch against my warmer hand and gave it a shake.

Kevin bent down and gave Mix a rub on the head, and Mix let out an anxious whimper. Kevin peered behind me curiously looking into the car.

"Greg and Gavin?" Kevin said in an inquiring tone.

David shook his head. "They didn't make it."

Kevin's face dropped sullenly and he gave David a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"I'll let you guys in, just take the car around to west block- you remember?" Kevin moved back to the gate and pushed it wider grinding the metal hinge and letting out a screech.

"I remember." David said with a tip of his head, he turned back to the car waving for me to follow.

When the doors were closed behind us and the engine was back on I turned to David to question him.

"Greg and Gavin? Who were they?"

"My sons, the younger two."

David's face was set in sadness, making him look older than he actually was. I chose not to ask any more about them and focused on taking in the sights of what could be my new home. It was a cluster of brick and corrugated steel buildings with many large windows, some covered with shutters, and some left open. There were rows upon rows of large doors leading in to what I assumed were stock rooms and warehouses. A few people were wandering idly along the road who stopped to inspect the sight of the sedan containing the man, woman and dog, with the white cross on the back windshield.

David came to a row of vehicles all neatly parked beside each other. There were all different types of cars. A few of mini vans, some trucks and a couple of four wheel motorcycles. We parked the car alongside the others and stepped out.

"Where's Gareth?" David called out to one of the passers-by.

The man pointed out to his left. "In the comms shed." He called back.

Mix and I followed David around to a large brick building that was filled with loading equipment, and desks and work stations. Three people were sitting at a desk at the end of the room. They all stood and watched us as we walked towards them.

One of them was a man who was somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties. He had short dark brown hair that was long in the front and fell over the side of his face. He had slight stubble growing on his upper lip and over his chin and jaw. He looked very respectable and even a little cute. There was something in his bone structure and eyes that looked familiar.

The man stopped a few yards away from us and inspected us glancing quickly over Mix and myself and resting his eyes on David. A small sound escaped his lips that sounded like a choked laugh, mixed in with a more discernable word.

"Dad?"

* * *

Once David and Gareth had greeted each other with a hug and told each other how much they had been missed. They spoke briefly about Gavin and Greg. It turns out David had left Terminus some months ago with his younger sons and a few others. In there first few weeks back, they hadn't been used to being on their own, and had been ambushed by rotters. They had lost three men from their small group including, Gavin and Greg. Gareth looked devastated by the news, and tried to comfort David but David pushed the offer of comfort away and said he didn't want to talk abut it anymore. So Gareth turned his chin up and led us out of the large room and down a hallway and out into the open, where arrays of buildings were surrounding us.

"We've got quite the community here, everyone has a role to play, and you will too." Gareth explained giving me an encouraging grin. "We have over forty people with us here. They've come from all over the state. Some even interstate."

"Did you have a woman come here about a week ago? Brown hair up to here." I motioned to my collarbone. "Green eyes. She would have been with an African American man and woman."

Gareth's eyes lifted to the sky and he let out a thoughtful groan, and then his eyes went back to my face.

"I don't remember anyone of that description, but we have people coming and going all the time, it's possible I overlooked them."

She would have to have been here then, there was nowhere else she would have gone, although I found it hard to believe he wouldn't notice her within a week. Maybe she had already passed through here, and I had missed her.

"What about a man with a crossbow?"

"A man with a crossbow? I would remember that I'm sure. Sorry no one like that has been through here." Gareth answered without even thinking.

The little flicker of hope I had experienced when thinking of seeing Maggie again, now dissipated. Daryl hadn't come this way after all. He must still be out there on his own. He must have been so angry at me. David was watching my facial expression so I turned my face to Mix, who was by my side and focused on him while trying not to let my face fall with disappointment too much.

"We've got several generators, although we've had to roster their usage, fuel has been hard to come by lately. We have an infirmary, a wash room with its own water supply, and flushing toilets, but we go by the rule: _yellow let it mellow._" He chuckled to himself softly. "Sorry, no showers running yet, but it's something we might work on in the future."

We stepped out into an open area with planter boxes built up beside the brick walls. They were full of cabbages, herbs and other green growth, and I could see corn growing outside the far gate. There was a table along the pathway, topped with washboards, buckets and washing baskets and some neatly folded clothing on a trolley nearby.

"We have a garden, a laundry area, we have people rostered on to help with those. I'm sure David can explain to you how all that works." Gareth said throwing a look over his shoulder to David.

"And this here is our outside dining area." He spread his arms out to the area before us which was dotted with large wooden spindles, attached to umbrellas, with mismatched chairs alongside them, obviously used for dining. "We have a mess hall too, but we do like to enjoy the fresh air, when its not too cold."

Gareth's head turned to the sound of footsteps approaching and David and I both turned to see who it was. It was an older balding man with grey stubble on his chin and a fretful look in his eyes. He looked at us suspiciously as he came nearer and then his eyes widened in recognition as he saw David's face.

"David?" He marvelled. He stepped forward and shook his hand. "Never thought we would see you again."

"What is it, Neil?" Gareth inquired, interrupting their reunion.

"Ben's been hurt." Neil replied.

"Bad?"

"Just a broken nose, but we need to talk to you 'bout something."

They held each other's gaze, communicating to each other in a way I didn't understand.

"You'll have to excuse me. Dad, you can take her up to the living quarters. There in the same place. Just find yourself an empty room, we're a bit short on beds at the moment, but there should be plenty of blankets up there."

Gareth began backing away from us, following behind the balding man.

"I'll check in on you later, see how you're settling in. Welcome to Terminus, Beth, and God bless."

* * *

David took me inside a nearby building and up a flight of stairs to the first level. There was a long corridor at the top of the staircase with a walkway going off in both directions. In front of me was a whole wall of windows letting in the remnants of the afternoon sun. Opposite them was a line of doorways.

We stepped to the left and walked past a series of rooms which looked like they may have been offices, before Terminus had been used for survivors. Most of the rooms were furnished with beds and desks and chests of drawers, and other mismatched pieces of furniture. It looked like each room housed between two and four people. There were obviously quite a number of people who were living here, but I had only seen a handful of them so far. I still hoped that I would find my sister here, and she had just been overlooked by Gareth.

We came to a room near the end that was empty save for a rolled up mattress in the corner. And a few neatly folded rough spun blankets. David stepped into the room looked it over and told me it would be ours for now. He wanted to share with Mix and I, until we were settled in, and I agreed, not entirely sure I wanted to be left alone with strangers. People stranger than David anyway.

"This seems like a pretty great place, I don't know why you left." I said to David while we made our way back to the car to get our belongings.

"It was a really great place, when we first got here. But then it started to grow and people started to have disagreements about the way things should be done. In the end I decided it was better for me and my boys if we just left and tried fending for ourselves."

"But Gareth stayed behind?"

"Gareth was the one I had the most disagreements with." David said with a frown.

"Do you think you'll be able to get along together now?"

"I guess we'll see." David said in a tone lacking positivity.

When we got to the car, David popped the trunk and loaded me up with bags that were ridiculously heavy.

"What do you have in here?" I grunted, struggling under the weight.

"I brought most of the pantry with me."

"You think they won't have enough to feed us?" I enquired.

David shrugged his shoulders. "Might not have anything we like." There was a look on his face that I didn't quite understand

I would eat anything they offered; I knew not to be fussy.

* * *

After we had unpacked our belongings, and I helped David tidy up and get rid of some of the dust that seemed to be bothering him immensely, David took me down stairs to show me the wash room. It looked to be a staff bathroom with 'employees only' written on the door. There were a line of basins and toilet stalls, and a few women were in there gossiping, but they left when I came in. I used the toilet, smiling the whole time at the thought of using an actually working, flushing toilet, with toilet paper. Then I washed my hands with cool fresh water, and real soap, and met David outside.

We went in to a large open hall, which was filled with tables and chairs and with lots of people. In the far side of the room were couches and small tables, bookshelves laden with books, a ping pong table and a large lit furnace.

I looked around at everyone trying to see a face I recognised, but they all looked like strangers to me. I examined the people here, they all looked peaceful and content, but at the same time they looked worn out. There was something that was a little off about the make-up of the group too. I looked around the room and realised there were no children. The youngest person there would only be about fifteen. I wondered what had happened to their children, but I didn't think I would ever ask.

"David!" Called an excited female voice breaking through my thoughts.

David and I turned to see a woman in her fifties with auburn hair plaited over her shoulder. She had a friendly and welcoming face and she embraced David warmly and then turned to me.

He introduced Mix and I and told me her name was Mary, and Mary offered to get us a plate of food.

We found a spare table and sat down to it and we were soon overwhelmed with people coming to greet David and to meet me and give Mix a rub on the head. Mix looked uncomfortable with all the attention and whimpered softly and even growled at a few people.

Mary brought over a plate of cabbage and a slab of sizzling, flame grilled meat. I wasn't sure what kind of meat it was. It wasn't beef, I hadn't seen or heard any livestock on the way through here, so I assumed it must be some type of wild game. I picked up my knife and fork and began cutting in to it.

David waved a hand in front of my plate and I looked up at him, he was looking over at Mary who was standing at the front of the room, with all eyes turned to her. She pressed her hands together and bowed her head and everyone followed her. I put down my knife and fork and did the same.

_"Lord, we thank you for the gifts which we enjoy at this table. As you have provided for us in the past, so may you sustain us into the future. May you bless those good souls who make sacrifice so we may have plenty. Amen."_

_"Amen."_ I repeated in unison with everyone else in the room.

I picked up my knife and fork again and glanced up to find David watching me with his eyes, shadowed by furrowed brows.

"You're not having any?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not sure you should either. The quality of the meat isn't so great here."

David pulled out a can of beans from his coat pocket and placed it on the table. "You want some beans?"

"No thanks, I think I'll rather real food."

I stabbed at the meat with my fork and placed it into my mouth and began chewing. As hungry as I was, it wasn't very appetising. It had a chewy, stringy texture and was incredibly salty. I ended up spitting it into my hand and discreetly placing it back on the plate.

"Told you, you wouldn't like it." David said with a satisfied smirk and began spooning beans onto my plate.

I scoffed down the beans and the cabbage and then placed my plate on the floor for Mix to eat the leftovers. He sniffed around at the meat pushing it around the plate with his nose, whimpered and then placed his head on his paws looking up at me with big round puppy eyes.

"You don't like it either boy?"

I turned back to David. "Do you think it's rancid?"

David nodded his head. "It's definitely off."

* * *

After we ate, a few ladies came over and cleared our plates away, wheeling them away on a rusted squeaking trolley. People were getting up and moving to the far side of the room to the furnace.

David and I got up and moved over to the others. Gareth was sitting among a circle of people with an acoustic guitar perched on his lap. My heart skipped a beat when I thought about hearing music again. David and I sat on a couch nearby and Gareth looked over to us and tipped his head.

The other lady Mary came and sat down on the other side of David and gave his arm a squeeze.

"I'm sorry about before, David. I should have asked if you would like to take the lead in saying grace tonight."

David patted her hand. "It's okay Mary. You say it better than I could."

They smiled at each other and then turned towards Gareth who started strumming at the guitar.

He was playing a slow and sad riff, which sounded familiar, but I didn't know what it was until he started singing.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,  
that saved a wretch like me.  
I once was lost but now am found,  
was blind but now I see.

Gareth was looking at David while he was singing and I knew it was a song especially for him. I looked over to David and half expected him to be smiling, but he had a look of shock on his face with a hint of anger. He sat there through the song red faced and with angry tears in his eyes, and when it was finished he got up to leave. I followed him out, jogging in an effort to keep up. As we made our way to the doorway, I saw a familiar pattern of red and black diamonds on a sand coloured back ground.

My heart leapt into my throat as I recognised it as Daryl's Poncho. But Daryl had left it back at the prison. How did it get here? I drew my eyes up to see who was wearing it. She was just a plain woman with blonde hair, no one I recognised. Then I saw a sight that took my breath away. In her arms I saw the first child I had seen since coming here, not just any child, a baby, and the baby was Judith!

* * *

I sat up that night in the room with David cradling the sleeping Judith in my arms. I was far too overcome with emotion to sleep, and David looked to be in the same state.

The lady who had Judith claimed that her mother had arrived here with her a few days ago. She said her mother had been bitten and handed the baby over before going off to die. I racked my brain trying to think who it was. It definitely wasn't Maggie or Sasha. Could it have been Michonne, or one of the governor's people? I had told them that Judith was my sister, and they had accepted without question, so the woman who bought her would have to be at least old enough to be my mother. I wanted to ask what she looked like, but I didn't want to raise suspicion and I was just so grateful to have Judith back in my arms that I didn't really care how she had got there.

"I expected your sister to be older, the way you spoke about her." David said stroking the back of Judith's pudgy hand.

"She's not really my sister." I confessed. "But I knew her mother and father very well. I've taken care of her since the day she was born."

"The lord must have been working overtime to bring you back together."

I gave Judith a squeeze and said a silent prayer of thanks.

"Will you and Judith return with me now? To the funeral home?"

"Not yet, I need to find out more about my sister, if she came here and where she went."

David frowned and then nodded his head in agreement.

"We'll stay as long as you need to."

The night wore on and we chatted about our families, and about the journeys we had taken since the outbreak, and David finally told me the story behind Terminus.

Back when this first happened, a group from David's local church held up together. While out scavenging they came across a freight train on the tracks. They opened up the box cars and found they were piled high with rice and grains, enough to feed them all for a year or more. So they decided to follow the tracks to the train terminal to see what else they could find here. They ended up finding a gold mine of food, clothing, blankets - everything they needed to survive. It was all stored here in freight containers and on the trains. So they decided to make it their home.

They started taking in groups of survivors who came past, and as their numbers grew they had to put some kind of system in place to keep things from going anarchic. David had ended up being chosen as the leader, and he made all the decisions, including who they let in to the community. Eventually he let in the wrong people, and they got into a long drawn out battle that ended with many people losing their lives.

After the battle Terminus was left in a state of disarray and arguments began over the way to manage things in light of the new circumstances. Gareth and the others had ideas, but David didn't like them. So he ended up taking his two younger boys and leaving with a few other followers.

After his sons had died, David had been lonely and he had considered coming back to Terminus to be with his last living son, but then he had found Mix and he had been quite happy to stay there, just the two of them. That was until I came along.

I felt guilty that I had dragged him back to a place with such hurtful memories, but I was also grateful to be in a safe place and with Judith back in my arms.

* * *

Judith woke up early the next morning and started fussing. David was still lying on his back snoring loudly, so I left him there with Mix for company and I ventured downstairs to see if I could find some food.

The mess hall was completely empty. I initially thought maybe they were all still in bed, but they must have gotten up early because cereal, powdered milk and breakfast bowls were still out on the trolleys. Judith and I ate our stale cereal and milk and then went to see if we could find where everyone had gone off to.

When I stepped outside I could hear a choir of voices chanting something. I followed the sound to a large brick building with high windows, and planter boxes filled with flowers outside. I stood under the window and listened to what they were saying.

It sounded like they were chanting some kind of Mantra.

_"Never again, never trust, we first, always."_

They repeated the words three times and then a single voice started speaking. It sounded like Gareth's.

_"The lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;_

_A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young:_

_And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee._

_And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the lord thy God hath given thee._

_So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:_

_So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates…"_

It appeared to be verses from the bible, but I didn't understand what it meant .He kept talking but I couldn't hear what he said over Judith's sudden frustrated wail.

I started bouncing Judith up and down in an effort to calm her and eventually she settled and started babbling to herself. I listened again to the voice in the room, but it was completely silent in there now.

After a moment Gareth came out of a nearby door. He smiled when his eyes fell upon me.

"Beth, you must come in, attend worship with us."

I nodded my head and followed. It had been years since I had been to church and I was curious how they did things here.

I walked in the room to see around forty friendly faces staring back at me. A few of them called out "Welcome Beth." In a cultish manner.

The room was a little bit freakish as well. It was lit with dozens of candles of all different shapes, sizes and colours filling every open space, and in the centre of the room surrounded by the other people was a circle of names, painted on the floor in black.

I stopped before it and inspected it. Gareth came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"These are the names of the people we lost." He explained pointing down to the circle. "Several months ago we were attacked by a group of bad people. They held us to seige and near starved us all to death, but the lord showed us the way, and we survived. With the strength of our lord we were able to take back Terminus, and restore it to her former glory... We lost many loved ones, fathers, mothers, we lost all of our children, and all because of these bad people. You must understand it is very hard for us to let people in now, we must be absolutely sure they are good people."

He smiled down on me and Judith and gave Judith a rub on the head.

"You're good people, aren't you Beth?"

* * *

After attending worship, Gareth assigned me a job of washing and mending the clothing. I happily sat out in the sunshine while Judy played on a blanket with plastic bottles filled with sand and stones. I listened to the women chatter, mainly about how handsome Gareth was, and about how thankful they were to have David back, and other little non important things that you would chatter about before the world fell apart. It very much felt like I could make this place my home.

After a short while, and a few dozen buttons, a man came racing along the path in an excitable state.

"We've got a rotter swarm coming in." He called down to us, and kept running to inform the others. The women dropped what they were doing and clamoured to their feet. I picked up Judith and followed everyone to the outdoor dining area. Gareth appeared with the balding man, Neil, and a blonde boy with a broken nose.

"Swarm stations." Gareth called to the crowd.

The crowd dispersed running off in all directions and Gareth walked over to me.

"You best take little Judith inside." He advised me.

David came up behind him and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Let me take Judith, Beth here is quite the shot, you could use her."

I nodded in agreement, anxious to get my hands on a weapon. David took Judith off my hands and Gareth led me over to the man with the broken nose.

"Get her armed, Ben, and get her out there." He instructed pushing me towards him.

I followed Ben into a nearby building and up a set of stairs. He took me to a locked door, took out a key from his breast pocket and unlocked the door and then opened the door to what looked like some sort of armoury.

There were racks and shelves of ammunition and weapons ─ Rifles, hand guns, grenades, knives. But the ones that stood out most of all were a katana, and a crossbow.

* * *

The swarm they spoke of was a herd of walkers. There had been over fifty of them, stumbling towards the surrounding fences and pawing hungrily at the gates. I had taken down at least ten, but probably more. The rest had been taken down easily by the others, with no loss of life. I guess that was one of the benefits of living in such a large community.

Some men were sent out to clean up the mess, and I was forced to give back my rifle and go back to mending shirts. I did as I was bid, with my mind wandering elsewhere.

That was Daryl's crossbow in the armoury, there was no doubt about it. He was still here, he wouldn't leave his crossbow behind, and Michonne was here too. If Gareth had lied about that, then he had probably lied about Maggie too. They were all here ─somewhere.

When night approached, Gareth proclaimed that we would have a feast to celebrate our victory against the rotters. He told us the feast would be a late one as he had to order extra meat to be brought out from the stores. He then sent us off to get ready for dinner.

David and I went back up to our room with Judith and Mix. Once we were inside I closed the door and approached David angrily.

"My family _has_ been here!" I growled.

David hung his head in shame as if he knew about it all along. "I thought they may have been. How did you find out?"

"I saw my friend's crossbow, and another friend's Katana, and the poncho that woman was wearing, and Judith being here! I know they were here."

David slowly slumped to the floor. "Your family, are probably gone." He said softly.

"What do you mean gone?"

"The people here Beth, they have lost all trust in their fellow man. They do terrible things to outsiders."

"What kind of terrible things?"

"Things I would rather not say."

I glared at him waiting for him to tell me more.

"Look, if they are still alive, then I know where they'll be."

"Tell me where!" I screeched at him angrily.

"Follow the 'A's."

* * *

I left Judith with David and snuck out of the room and down the stairs avoiding the crowd amassing in the mess hall. I had remembered seeing a large 'A' painted beside a door in that hall where we had worship so I headed back there.

The room was even creepier at night, with the light from hundreds of candles twisting the shadows on the wall. The fact that they kept these candles going all day and night was really creepy too. Who were these weird and obsessive people and what did they have planned for my family?

I exited out the door next to the 'A' and came to the outer circle of Terminus, surrounded by the chain link fence. There were a number of freight containers and box cars outside near the fence and I walked out towards them and inspected them in the darkness.

One of them had a large 'A' painted on it. So I walked over to it, climbed the steps undid the latch and pulled the heavy door open.

I couldn't see anything inside, it was pitch black, but an awful smell was coming out of there, and I could hear the sounds of breathing. I stuck my head in and whispered.

"Hello?"

A body suddenly hurtled towards me from out of the darkness, and knocked me off the steps and to the ground below. I landed with a thump and shooting pain coursed through my hip and back. I went to defend myself against my attacker before I recognised the sobbing sound she was making as "Beth".

I pushed the woman off me and saw the red and wet face of my sister.

"Maggie." I squealed back, and then lowered my voice wondering if anyone was around. I hoped they had all been distracted by the big feast Gareth had planned.

"You're okay?" I murmured.

"I am now." Maggie said between sobs.

I was suddenly surrounded by bodies hugging me and kissing me and patting me on my head.

Sasha and Bob were there and Rick, Carl, Michonne and Glenn, and there were three other strangers too. I waited for Daryl to emerge, but he never came out.

"Where's Daryl?" I asked turning to my sister.

The happy and relieved faces suddenly dropped into sadness.

Rick shook his head at me. "He's gone, Beth." Rick made to comfort me by touching my shoulder but I ducked away from him.

"What do you mean gone?" I snarled.

"They took him, these people. They're not right." He looked around to the others. "They eat other people."

I knew these people creeped me out, that's what they had been talking about in worship that day. I thought it was just an analogy, but they were actually preaching about eating people! And the meat ─ the awful tasting meat ─I had eaten it!

I felt the contents of my stomach rising through my chest and to my throat and I retched them on to the ground splattering vomit all over everyone who was close to me. They didn't seem at all bothered by it, and just watched me with concern.

I felt my whole body go cold and my arms and legs were trembling uncontrollably with rage and disgust. A ringing was sounding off in my ears, my head was spinning and I thought I might pass out. Then Maggie gripped me by my shoulders and shook me back to my senses.

"Come on Beth, we have to go." Maggie said while dragging me towards the fence.

"I can't go!" I almost shrieked.

"We can't stay here!" Rick growled.

"I have to get Judith!" I growled back.

Rick looked like I had just punched him in the guts, his mouth dropped open and his face turned white.

"Judith is here?" He gasped.

"She's with David ─ my friend ─ she's safe." I started to turn but Rick grabbed my arm, and stopped me.

"You get Judith. We've got weapons buried near the fence, we're gonna get 'em and were gonna come back for you."

I nodded in agreement. I would make sure Judith was safe, and I would find Daryl. He had to be okay, believing he was still alive was the only thing that could make me go on. I would find him, and if I found him in any state but whole. I would slaughter every maneater in Terminus.

* * *

I found David still in his room sharing some canned goods with Judith and Mix, he jumped startled when I burst through the door. I pounced on him like a wild animal and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought his face in so it was in line with mine.

"They eat people!" I snarled.

David looked shocked and bobbed his head up and down in an erratic nod.

"That's why I left, I couldn't bare it!"

I shook him again roughly. "They've taken my friend, my very dear friend!" I was crying now. I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks and landing on my arms. "Where would they take him, if they were going to _eat_ him?"

"To the killing floor. If you go back to the worship room and take the southern door, it'll take you out there."

I threw him to the ground and jumped to my feet.

"All hells about to break loose!" I proclaimed. "You three best stay low until it blows over."

* * *

I knew where to go, and I knew I would have to get there fast, but I had one more stop to make. The armoury. I followed the buildings around retracing the path I had taken with Ben. I raced up the steps turned the corner and slammed straight in to Ben, who was now guarding the armoury door.

He steadied me by gripping my shoulders.

"Hey Beth, thought you would be at the feast with the others. What's up?" He had a goofy grin on his face, completely oblivious to what I had planned for him.

The only weapon I had was the knife I had stolen from David back at the funeral home. The blade was thin, dulled and beginning to rust. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to get it through his skull. A living skull would be firmer than a walker's skull. My stomach lurched as I thought about how I would have to force the blade through flesh and bone, the sound it would make, the feel of warm blood on my hands. I had never had to kill a man up close before, a living, breathing, talking man. But in this world you did what you had to for the people you loved.

**AN: Thanks to those of you who are still reading and reviewing. Be sure to leave suggestions for improvement, and tell me what you like and don't like.**


	16. Extermination

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter IV**

**Extermination**

***Warning* Contains references to Cannibalism, and dangley bits ;)**

It must have been the cold that woke me up. It was colder than I had remembered it being before, colder than I had felt for a long time. It felt as if my skin was bare against stagnant winter air. It was difficult to open my eyes at first. The light in the room was not bright, but my head was pounding like the beat to a heavy metal song, and the pulsating of the beats was building up in my head and pushing out behind my eyeballs. I pulled my hands down to my face so I cold swipe the back of my hand over my eyes and I found that both hands came together even though I didn't will them too. I felt like I didn't have control of my body, kind of like I was floating. My legs were so numb I had to look down to check if they were still there. My bare feet were suspended a few feet off the ground, with rope wrapped around my ankles like a coiled snake, and a hook and chain holding me to the ground. Floating in mid-air; another fucked up dream.

I ran my eyes over my body taking in the rope around my ankles then higher to the exposed hair on my bare shins, then to my scabbed knees, my pale, unbaked thighs and then…I was butt naked! I don't know what it was with me having dreams about being naked lately, but it seemed to be happening again. I reached down instinctively to cover my dangler, and realised it was dangling the wrong way. It looked like a sad old man with a droopy long nose looking up at me. And my hands, they weren't right either, they were held together by the thin plastic strip of a zip tie.

_Zip ties…_

The sudden shock of realising it wasn't a dream, made me jolt backwards, and I felt myself starting to sway to and fro. I wasn't hovering over the ground, I was suspended from the ceiling. The rope wrapped around my ankles, was draped over what appeared to be one of those butchers hooks that were used to hang animal carcasses. I recognised them as the same type my dad had in his hunting shack, where he would hang his game upside down, slit their throats and let the blood flow out, before he carved up the meat into portions.

I looked up above my head, which was actually down, and found a steel grated walkway about three feet below me. Tilting my head back up a little I could see the walkway stopped ahead of me and dropped down to a concrete floor. In the middle of that floor was a stainless steel table, and on top of that table were portions of pale meat, with dark red flesh and white bone exposed. There were parts that looked just like a beef shank, but it wasn't beef I was looking at. Cows didn't have elongated pink, fleshy feet with five rounded toes. Cows didn't have long arms ending in hands with five slender digits. Cows didn't have cocks, well not human fucking cocks.

I couldn't see the face of the man that was laid out in sections on the table, surrounded by various butchery utensils – hack saw, a cleaver, a boning knife – but I immediately thought of Abraham who had been walking ahead of me before I had blacked out. I turned my head to the right and felt a wave of relief wash over me as I saw the ginger hair and trucker moustache over a slack mouth with a dull snore escaping it. He was dangling there naked much like myself, but with his arms bent behind his back.

"Abraham." I called out in an effort to wake him. He didn't move.

"Yer not s'posed ta be awake." An unexpected voice drawled from my left, causing me to jolt and swing myself on the chain.

I turned my head towards the voice and found myself staring at a naked female body, bound at the wrists with cable ties and tied at the ankles with rope. The woman had dark hair that was sweeping over a metal bucket placed on the grating below, with a soft swishing sound. She was sleeping too, breathing softly with her chest rising and falling. The voice I heard was not her. It had come from a long stick of a man with wild, tightly curled, black hair, growing in tufts all over his scalp and face. He was dressed in a long, black vinyl butchers apron and he was holding a sharp, half foot long sticking knife in his hand.

"We be wastin' a lot a energy chargin' them stunners so that ye stay asleep." He continued to drawl, without even looking at me.

He took to a knee in front of the woman and clasped his hands in front of him as if in prayer.

"Bless ye lord, for the gifts we are about to receive." He spoke clearly, as if in rote.

He pressed the blade to her throat and dragged it across in a smooth and quick motion, freeing a line of red that soon fanned out spraying all over the man's apron. He took the bucket under her head and tried to catch some of the spray and then placed it back under her head, when the force of the spray subsided and started flowing out rhythmically as it was pumped out by her heart.

My own heart beat got faster as the pumps of her blood got slower.

"Ya gotta watch fer the blood ta stop pumpin' so ye can destroy the brain afore the meat starts turnin'." He informed me.

I watched in horror as he supported the woman's head with one hand, drew the knife back in the other and slammed it into the side of her head with a wet pop.

"She ain't meat, shes people!" I croaked through my tight throat.

He stared at me blankly like a simpleton.

"Don' like it when me meat talks." He drawled.

He stood up, turned around and stepped off the metal grating and to the concrete floor below and scooped up another metal bucket, like the one beside me that was half filled with blood. He stepped back up and placed the bucket under my head.

"I ain't meat." I growled.

The man was inspecting his sticking knife, wiping the blood along his apron.

"I ain't fuckin' meat!" I snarled louder.

The man bent to a knee before me and clasped his hands together, with the knife sticking out from his palm as he prayed.

"Bless ye lord for the…"

Before he could finish his prayer I had reached down and grasped the rim of the bucket in my fingertips, and using the momentum of my body swinging from the hook, I slammed the bucket upwards into the mans jaw, with a ringing clang, and watched in satisfaction as his knife went flying out of his grip and he fell back on the grated floor with a thump.

I reached down my tied hands and gripped on to his apron and using all the strength I had in my fingers I clutched in to the slimy fabric and started dragging him towards me.

"Danny, get in 'ere." He screamed, arching his head backwards and looking out past the steel table in the centre of the room.

"Oh, shit." I heard another voice call, and saw a man bound down the step and grab for something small and black on a nearby shelving unit. He marched over to me militantly and reached the black object towards me revealing a thin line of blue electric current, jerking between two wire prongs.

He was about a foot away from me, standing over the butcher laying on the ground when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His eyes were wide in shock and his mouth dropped open to reveal something small and black emerging from between his teeth and tongue. It looked like a small conical metallic shape, kind of like the tip of a crossbow bolt.

The man fell to his knees, landing on top of the butcher and then toppled off him to the side.

Behind him standing at the far end of the room, up a high concrete step, I saw worn riding boots, thick woolen socks, the hilt of a small knife, jeans ripped at the knees, a yellow tee covered by a cream coloured sweater, thin pale hands holding my Stryker and a blonde haired, blue eyed angel with her head slightly bent to the side, and eye peering down the sight of the bow.

_No fucking way._

* * *

While I stared at Beth in a state of dumbfounded disbelief, the man below me rolled away grabbed for his sticking knife, and kicked his legs off the grate and to the floor below. He stalked over to Beth, growling something unrecognisable, with his knife held high.

Beth put the bow to the ground put her foot in the stirrup and struggled to pull the string to the latch. I mentally kicked my own ass, wishing I had let her try it a few times, instead of doing it for her. The man was only a knife lunge away and she was still struggling and straining.

"Beth!" I called out to her in fear.

I heard a familiar click and saw she had latched it in to place, but the guy was right on her now. She tossed my Stryker towards the butcher's head and darted away from him as he stumbled and tried to regain his balance. Beth was fumbling at her side, where I saw my Busse. She ripped the knife out but knocked it against a shelving rack behind her as she drew it up and it clanged to the ground. The butcher kicked out his foot and flicked the knife away out of her reach. I began swinging myself wildly hoping I could work my way off the hook, as I watched her dart around the hacked up body in the centre of the room.

Anxiety gripped my stomach as the man slashed towards her, but she dodged neatly out of the way grabbed for the cleaver on the table and swung it down into the top of the guys skull. The hit knocked him to the floor and blood was spurting from the wound but it wasn't deep enough. He was still moaning and growling and reaching out to grab at her. She drew the cleaver up above her head with two hands and slammed it down harder into his skull. This time I heard the crunch of bone splitting and watched in relief as the butcher's body collapsed to the floor.

She was gasping and breathing heavily, with wild eyes darting around the room, taking in the butcher with the cleaver embedded in his skull, the portions of human on the table, the man laying on the grating with a bolt sticking out the back of his head, and me hanging there naked with all my bits showing.

She steadied herself on the table and edged her trembling hands along it stepping towards me.

"Beth." I called to try to shake her from her shock.

She raised haunted eyes to me, and I saw her shoulders drop in a staggered sigh of relief. She mounted the step on the grating, and then fell to her knees before me and pulled me in for a hug, with her face in my chest and my face in hers.

"That was too close." She whimpered, into my bare skin.

"I'm so fuckin' glad to see you, girl." I said, trying to hold back a sob.

She nodded her head, sniffled and stifled a sob of her own, then wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater. She had a big smile of relief on her face and I figured my face probably looked the same.

"Get me down." I said, nodding my head backwards to where the chain from the hoist was attached to the wall.

She glanced over to it, and made to stand but then dropped back down again. She took my head in her hands and stared down at me.

"Say it." She ordered firmly.

"Say what?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Say you need people." She insisted.

"Quit playin' girl and get me down." I growled, annoyed at her choice in time to play games.

"I will when you say it." She persisted.

"I don't need people." I sighed

She glared at me.

"I just need you." I added.

Her big blue eyes widened and a grin grew on her face. She moved her lips down towards mine to give me a spiderman inspired kiss, which wasn't appropriate for the time, but I was still willing to share it with her.

Then we were interrupted by a strained, dry voice to my right.

"Hate to interrupt your moment there, but do you think you could get me the fuck down from here?"

* * *

I never got the chance to give Beth that kiss, or even to tell her I was sorry about leaving her, or to ask her what happened to her. As soon as she had let Abraham and I down, and helped untie us, she was racing up the step and behind a wall saying something about Judith and the others.

Abraham and I stretched our legs, and slapped them a few times trying to get feeling back and then found our clothes up on a shelf. I collected my Stryker, and Busse that Beth had left behind. Abraham grabbed the cleaver and we left as hastily as possible, both of us trying to avoid looking at the bluish body of the woman hanging by her ankles, or the pieces of the man spread out on the table.

I stepped out the way Beth had come in, down through a corridor and then through a door that led into the freaky room we had ran though earlier, with all the candles and the names written in a circle. I made my way out the door that was marked 'A' and back towards the train car where I had last seen Rick and the others.

The door to car was wide open, so Beth must have already been through this way and let them go. I heard the jangling and clinking of shifting metal and saw some figures climbing over the fence across the way. I recognised the first one to jump down into the dying grass below, as Rick. He was holding a gun in his hand and when he spotted me watching him, he gave me a silent hand signal pointing to his eyes and then up to the roof. I nodded, understanding that he wanted me to scope out the roof.

I looked around for a way up and saw some wooden pallets lying against the wall under a louvered window. I used the pellets to reach the window and then climbed up the louvers digging my boots into the gaps and vaulting myself onto the nearby drain pipe. I dragged myself upwards pushing my boots into the joins of the brick work and then pulled myself onto the sheet metal of the roof, cringing as it creaked under my weight.

Once on top I lay still for a moment gauging if there was anyone around who would have heard me. Then I pulled myself up and silently crept over to the next roof that was a few feet above my head and grabbed on to it. With my feet dangling below, I had to stiffle a grunt when my chest landed against the sheeting, as I noticed a shadow moving a few yards away. As quietly as possible I lifted my feet up and rolled onto the top of the roof, being careful not to let my bow clang on to the metal.

Once on my feet I crept slowly over to the man who was obliviously looking down to the ground below. I flipped my crossbow onto my back and took out my Busse and crept up behind him, mimicking his slow paces. When I was sure he was completely distracted I pounced on him, holding my hand over his mouth and opening his throat so he couldn't scream. Once he was down I forced my blade into his skull so he wouldn't be able to sneak up on me later.

I went back to my kneeling position and scoped the surrounding rooftops that were lit up by the silver moonlight. It was like an open woodland of sheet metal grass, barren trees tied together with telegraph wire, and bushes of raised skylights and ventilation stacks. This was my new hunting ground, and the Termites were my prey.

There were two figures on the rooftop directly across from my position, another figure on the next building over, and then one that was across the open space of about ten yards. I took care of the two on the building next to me first. Hiding behind one of the stacks and taking one down when he approached, easing him to the roof so the fall of his body didn't alert the other. Then I crept up behind the woman, and took her down too, without feeling the least bit of guilt about killing the fairer sex.

There was a small gap inbetween the building I was on and the next, but I didn't want to risk jumping and alerting anyone so I eased my way down and then swung my legs out until they caught on the edge of the roof, and then propelled myself on to the metal. I crept up behind this guy in the same way as the others and took him down with my Busse again.

I wasn't sure what Rick and the others were doing. I had expected to hear some kind of commotion by now, but all I could hear was the dulled down sounds of laughing and chatter coming from somewhere below. I went to the edge of the building and looked down to see if I could spot the others. There was no one down there, just the courtyard we had seen previously with the tables where creepy Mary had been cooking at the grill.

There was still one more figure prowling around in the darkness on the building across the courtyard. From my low position, laying on my front . I removed my Stryker from my shoulder and aimed it at the figure in the dark. I could just make out the shape of his or her head, but not the face. That was okay, I just needed to get them anywhere in the skull area. I was about to pull the trigger when he took a step forward pointed at me and started yelling.

I hadn't realised I was laying out in the moonlight.

"Shit." I mumbled to myself and then pulled the trigger sending the bolt straight into his forehead, and silencing him for good. I watched as his limp body tumbled off the roof and fell to the floor with a crunch and a splattering of blood, making artwork that would rival Picasso all over the concrete below.

I observed from my high position as people began running out of the building below me.

They were yelling and pointing and then I started hearing the gun shots firing in rapid succession, coming from below. They echoed into the empty night like hard and fast rain falling on tin. I knew Rick was down there, they had weapons and lots of them, by the sounds of it. People were pouring out like ants from a nest now, dispersing themselves throughout the arrangement of buildings, screaming, shrieking and shouting over the gunshots.

Some of them emerged with weapons and started firing back at Rick and the gang, so I took up my bow and shot out the last four bolts in my quiver, rolling on to my back to reload between shots. Then I got up and looked for a way down. I jumped from building to building, like an olympic hurdlist and slipped down onto a drain pipe. I was above a small access-way between buildings when I saw a man lingering in the darkness. I could see he had his eye on Carl who was standing out in the open with his back to the both of us, firing into the shrieking crowd.

With knife in hand I jumped down on the man before he could get a shot off, forcing the knife down into his skull. I watched him slump to the ground, with a surprised groan escaping his mouth. Carl whipped around at the sound with his gun aimed at me. He gave me a grateful tip of his hat when he recognised me and then raced off to find more Termites.

I caught up with Carl, Rosita and Tara who were lingering by the grill watching for unexpected movement. I raced around and collected my bolts from the corpses on the ground and placed them back in my quiver and slotted one into my bow.

I spent the next few minutes racing through the labyrinth of buildings, going up stairs and ducking my head into empty rooms, trying to find any signs of Termites and exterminate them if I did. I came across Michonne and Glenn who were doing the same. They gave me a focused glare and a nod of acknowledgment before we parted ways again.

I followed the path of buildings back around to the courtyard with the griller, where I had seen most of the people race out of, and walked into the open doors. I paced through a corridor beside a staircase and to large double doors that were opened in to some kind of mess hall. It was piled up with corpses and Abraham, and Maggie were walking through them, destroying the brains of the already dead to make sure they didn't return.

Rick was standing in the centre of the room with Eugene, Rosita and Tara by one side. On the other side was Carl then an older man who would have been in his fifties or sixties, then a scruffy, familiar looking, white dog, and beside it was Beth.

They had a group of people on their knees in front of them, with their hands clasped behind their heads. When I got closer I recognised only two of the faces. One of them was the leader, Gareth, and the other was the creepy grilling woman, Mary, who had tried to serve us-what I now assumed to be human- when we first came to Terminus.

Bob was seated over on a bench , bleeding from the shoulder, with Sasha there tending to his wounds, but it didn't look too serious.

Rosita, Tara and Eugene all had guns drawn on the Termites. Carl was crying and looking at his dads arms, and in Ricks arms was a pudgy pink bundle wrapped in a fraying blanket.

"Lil' ass kicker?" I mumbled.

Rick turned to me and I could see his face was red and wet from crying.

I glanced to the ghostly, defeated faces of the Termites in the centre of the room.

"What're we waitin' for?" I asked, raising my crossbow, ready to finish them off.

"Rick held out a hand in front of the bow."

"We're not gonna kill them." He advised me.

"Motherfuck. Why the hell not?" I snarled back at him.

"They're victims of the need to survive." He explained to me.

"They're victims of my right foot." I declared, jumping forward and driving my boot into Gareth's pretty face. Rick and the older man standing by him stepped forward to stop me.

"This man, took care of Judith, and he took care of Beth. His only request is that we spare their lives." Rick informed me, pointing at the older man. I glared angrily at this stranger Rick was willing to spare the lives of shit for.

Beth placed a hand on the arm of the man and looked to me with pleading eyes. "This is David. He saved me from…from Anton."

_Fucking Anton._

I could feel rage building at the mention of his name. David had rescued her, which meant she had been in some kind of trouble. What had that fucker done to her? The look Maggie was giving the pair of us made me think she had already explained it once. I wanted to drag Beth in for a hug, and tell her how sorry I was for leaving her with him, and to comfort her and let her comfort me. But I just glared at David cold faced. It was my own messed up way of showing appreciation.

"What are we gonna do then, huh? Let 'em roam free in the wild? let 'em hunt for their choice of _meat?_" I growled to Rick.

"I'm sparing their lives, but they'll have no mercy." Rick declared, glaring down at Gareth's bloody, swelling face.

* * *

We led the group of Termites back through the path of the 'A's and to the box car that had served as our prison for nearly a week. I grinned triumphantly as I watched the distraught faces of the surviving Termites march in to the darkness. I stepped forward once they were all in and gripped onto the handle of the door and started sliding it across.

A pale hand shot out and stilled the door. "What about food and water?" Gareth called out through the small gap in the door.

"You got plenty of food in there already." Rick replied to him. He stared back toward me in disbelief and I rolled the door shut on his gobsmacked face.

"Enjoy your Termite steaks." I called mockingly towards the door.

We turned around and made our way back up the ramp. Rick moved over to Beth's side and passed Judith to her waiting arms.

"Thank you for taking care of Judith." He said sincerely. Beth smiled back at him.

"How did you find her? Daryl said you two were alone." Rick continued.

Beth glanced back to me, and I thought maybe she was thinking I had told Rick what had happened. But I hadn't – yet.

"She was already here, a woman brought her here. I thought it must have been one of you." She replied.

Rick stopped in his tracks, and looked around to Maggie, Tara and Rosita, and shook his head.

"She didn't come with any of us."

"Well, who…?" Beth trailed off.

Rick was deep in thought. "You know, when we came in here, we heard people callin' from some freight containers. You think there could be more survivors in there?" He said looking at me.

"One way to find out." I replied.

* * *

We made our way back to the freight containers we had seen earlier when we were running through Terminus. Rick placed his hands on the latch ready to open it and turned his head back to me.

"Think they'll still be livin'?" He asked.

"I'll get 'em if they ain't." I said, readying my Stryker.

He unlatched the doors with a clanking and grinding. And flung them open and stood back with his weapon drawn.

We watched and waited for someone to come out.

The first people out were a man and woman, pale and dirty with a look of terror on their faces. They moved gingerly past our drawn weapons holding their arms in the air. They relaxed a little when the girls started giving them comforting words and pats on the back. Then more people came out. I counted thirteen in total. They all looked terrified and were trembling, standing with their backs to the nearby brick wall.

"We're not going to hurt you." Rick advised them. But they still looked terrified.

Then I heard a weak and familiar voice call out my name from within the darkness of the freight container. From out of the shadows stepped the slender, and short grey haired Carol followed closely by Tyreese's hulking frame. Carol flew straight into my arms, burying her head into my chest and sobbing. I pushed my bow to the side so I could return the embrace.

"You're alive!" She mumbled into my chest.

"You made it!" I said back.

Carol pulled away from me and looked to Rick.

"I'm sorry Rick, I had Judith, but they took her away. I don't know where she is." Carol told Rick while fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"She's here." Said Beth stepping forward and presenting Judith to her.

"It was you?!" Rick exclaimed. "You brought her here?"

Carol looked to Tyreese and they both nodded.

Rick tugged Carol away from me and pulled her in for a firm hug, rocking her back and forth and chuckling to himself. Carol looked up at him and started chuckling too, and I could see that whatever rift there had been between them, had now been repaired.

We all came in and gave Carol and Tyreese a hug, or a kiss or a pat on the back. We were so grateful to have our group back together again, and nobody who was injured beyond repair. Rick went over to talk to the other survivors that had come from the container.

I had my eyes on Rick when I heard Beth say something that sounded so wrong in her sweet voice.

"Sonofabitch!"

I turned to see what she was talking about, and I saw her suddenly pounce on a male figure. She knocked him to the ground and started clawing at his face.

"Screw you!" She shrieked.

I looked down on the dark skinned hands covering the face protectively against her claws, and I knew immediately who it was.

"Mothafuck." I growled and then dragged him out from under Beth by his shirt. I held him up with his arms pinned behind his back while Beth threw punches and kicks into him. Her pretty face was red and covered in sweat and her pony tail swung around wildly. Anton kept slipping to the ground but I would drag him up so that she could keep laying into him.

Carol jumped in and made a grab for Beth's flying fists. "What are you doing?" She cried.

"He tried to…he did something terrible." Beth shrieked back.

"He's a good person. I talked with him ─in there─ he's really nice." Carol insisted.

"He's good at playing you false." Beth declared angrily.

"They're fucking crazy." Anton said after spitting out a mouth full of blood

"Shut the fuck up motherfucka." I said smacking him across the head before I started dragging him away from the others.

"Where are you taking him?" Carol asked.

"Puttin' 'im in with the others, they'll make good use of 'im."

Beth reached into her boot and pulled out a rusty steak knife, with the tip snapped off. She held it up in front of me. "Here, they might need this." She said pressing it into my palm.

She turned to Anton and gave him a sly grin which was surprisingly sexy. "This is for Claire." She murmured.

I grinned at the thought of the Termites sawing away at Anton's flesh for hours with that dulled, useless blade.

**AN: Next chapter Daryl and Beth get a proper reunion.**


	17. Washed Away

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter V**

**Washed Away**

**AN: I'm not too sure on what winter is like in Georgia, so if I got it all wrong, lets just say it's out of season weather :)**

***Warning* Contains sexually explicit material**

The morning after we had taken Terminus, I woke up in a room that I could call my own once more. I had slept alone, in the squeaky cot bed, kept warm with layers of woven blankets and with Mix sleeping on my feet. There was no body else to share this room. Now that the population of Terminus had been reduced by half, there were plenty of rooms to go around. The room was only a little larger than my cell at the prison. Much like the cell it had no windows except a small foot by foot panel of opaque glass in the door, which had a number '12' painted on to it. There was an office desk in the corner, and a worn office chair that was frayed and losing its stuffing. There was also a high bookshelf, but it only had one or two books on it. The shelves were mainly taken up by folded clothes and other odds and ends that had belonged to the room's previous inhabitants. On the floor by the bed was another roll out mattress that must have been used by the second person who shared this room. I had tried to encourage Mix to sleep there last night, but he preferred my bed, and I was grateful of his comforting warmth. I didn't want to be on my own, but David had moved to his own room now, and Maggie and Glenn were sharing, and Daryl…

Daryl and I had barely spoken last night, with all that happened. We didn't get a chance to discuss if we would be sharing a room. We didn't even get a chance to discuss what was happening between us. He had been on watch for the first part of the night, while I was figuring out which room I would take, and he had obviously found somewhere else to sleep after his watch had ended, while I was sleeping soundly with only Mix for company.

I pushed Mix gently off my feet and he lazily dropped to the floor below and stretched out his front paws. I got out of the creaking bed and pulled on my boots and my sweater, thinking about the other clothes in the room and if I dared to wear them. I was going to have to get a new wardrobe and new furnishings, and make this room my own, if we were going to be staying here.

Once I was dressed, and had pulled my hair into a presentable pony tail I went downstairs, with Mix padding by my side.

I found Rick, Michonne, Carl and Judith in the mess hall, standing over a pile of weapons, making an inventory of them.

"Mornin' Beth." Rick said to me as I walked in.

Carl and Michonne both mimicked a "Mornin'" to me aswell.

I strode over to Judith and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then made my way towards the pile of clean china bowls.

Rick's eyes followed me with a grateful smile on his lips as I organised a bowl of stale cereal for my breakfast. We had a long talk last night, and I had been overwhelmed with the grateful appreciation he had showered on me, for freeing them all and taking care of Judith.

"Seen Daryl?" I asked him as I munched on my cereal.

"Just left. Goin' huntin'." He advised me. He pointed to my bowl of cereal. "There ain't much in the way of food here, but cereal and milk powder. There's some cabbages and corn, but it's not gonna last the lot of us for long."

I swallowed my last mouthful of cereal and then pushed my bowl to the side and hastily got up.

"I can hunt too." I declared.

"I bet you can." He said with a grin. "We already got a couple out there, but we could use someone extra."

"I'll go with Daryl." I insisted.

"Sure. He's gone out the south gate. If you run you should be able to catch him."

I nodded my head and then stepped forward examining the layout of weapons before me. My eyes rested on the big black bow that had belonged to Len. I bent down and scooped it up, and counted the arrows in the quiver. Rick gave me an approving nod and grin, and I raced out of the hall to find Daryl, with Mix trailing behind me.

* * *

I passed though the southern gate and took note of the newcomer, Abraham - the one who had been hanging naked with Daryl - who was swearing at the stack of half charred bodies that were piled in a mountain of limbs outside. They had tried burning them last night, but then the clouds had opened up to rain and put the fire out. It had rained unseasonably all night, making the sheet metal roofing roar. It had been a deafening sound, but it had also been kind of relaxing, and it was probably what had given me such a deep and rested sleep.

I gave a sympathetic shrug of my shoulders as I passed him, and he shook his head in disappointment and sighed dejectedly.

I could see the dark figure of Daryl walking off into the woods ahead of me, and I chased after him calling out his name. He stopped and turned and waited for me to catch up.

"What're ya doin'." He asked me with a friendly smile, that looked a little awkward on his face. He gave Mix a rub on the head in greeting.

"I'm comin' huntin'." I replied, presenting him with Len's bow.

He looked the bow over with a frown on his face.

"That big-ass thing?" He said pointing at the bow. "It's twice your size, girl."

I gave my shoulders a shrug. "I thought it would be kinda cool to have two archers in the group. You could teach me couldn't you?"

He glanced down at his own crossbow, and then held it out for me. I took it in one hand, and then he grabbed for Len's bow and I let him take it.

"You look better with my Stryker." He said regarding me with a grin. He brought his hand up to his chin and began rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "No. _Your_ Stryker." He corrected, flicking a finger towards me.

Was Daryl _giving_ me his crossbow? I was completely dumbfounded and I just gaped at him in wide eyed disbelief. Daryl had been the crossbowman from the start. It was part of who he was. I would dare say it was his most prized possession, aside from his leather vest. This was big, this was basically like him handing me an engagement ring. He grinned at my shocked facial expression and then turned his head to the bow in his hands.

"Bowtech 101st Airborne." He muttered looking it over. "Been a while since I used one of these."

* * *

We trudged through the open woodland in a comfortable silence, enjoying the peaceful tranquillity, and the fresh smell of wet pine. We would steal glances at each other every now and then, while we poked around in the leaves and bushes looked around for animal tracks. The trees eventually thinned out and we came to a creek about twenty yards wide, filled with the winter rains of last night, which ran rapid tumbling over rocks and crashing down in bubbles of white.

"You remember after we left the prison, the first time we went and washed in that creek?" I reminisced.

"How could I forget? You got one fat leech on ya and you came rushin' out screamin' blue murder." He chuckled, waving his hands in the air mockingly. "Thought some water walker had grabbed ya."

I gave him a playful push. "You had to pull it off me, 'cause I couldn't get a grip on it."

"Yeah and it was right up your thigh, and your panties were all wet and I could see everythin'. Man I thought I would lose my mind." Daryl said with a huge grin on his face.

"You could see everythin'?" I enquired curiously.

Daryl dropped his eyes sheepishly and red crept up his neck like he had just been caught out doing something naughty.

"Daryl Dixon, how long have you been thinkin' of me like that?" I asked.

"Like what?"

"Like someone you might want?"

"I dunno." He said with a shake of his shoulders, still looking down and avoiding my eyes.

"How long." I asked again bending my head so I could look at his face.

"Thinkin' it was back when Zach died, and I came told you, you 'member?"

I nodded sadly thinking of the night they had come home from the supply run minus Zach.

"You hugged me, and yer sweater fell of yer shoulder, and it looked so clean and white and smooth. Man, I felt like such a creep thinkin' of you like that when your boy had jus' died."

I was jerking my head up and down, nodding as I remembered. That was the first time I had held Daryl like that, and he had felt so warm and familiar, and if I hadn't have been thinking of Zach at the time, I might have been thinking of Daryl the same way he was thinking of me.

"Wow! That long huh?" I murmured, coming to realisation that Daryl had been attracted to me, before I had even been attracted to him.

"I guess." He said with a shrug, peering up at me with a small grin on his face.

"I'm real sorry Beth." He continued.

"About what?"

"'bout what I said before, 'bout you making me feel guilty. That's not why I did it."

"I know." I said giving him a gentle reassuring tap on the arm.

"I really do care about you." He added.

"I know." I repeated.

"More than just a friend."

My heart beat leapt into my throat and crept up my face settling on my lips as a smile. "I know." I repeated again.

"And I'm sorry 'bout leavin' and makin' you worry 'bout me."

I nodded my head accepting his apology. "I'm really sorry about hittin' you." I apologised back.

"The hittin' didn't bother me none." He glanced up at me with his head cocked to the side. He was running his hands over his new bow nervously. "Being called a dumbass redneck hurt, 'cause it was the truth, but I never had no-one callin' me degenerate before…to my face."

He looked so sad, and hurt by my previous words. I drew him in to me for a hug, and he wrapped his free arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him.

"You're not a dumbass, or a degenerate. You may be a bit of a redneck, but you're my redneck." I said into his chest.

He gave a little chuckle and rubbed over my shoulder.

"Yeah, guess I am."

I lingered in his warm and strong embrace for a moment, taking in the familiar smell of sweat and dirt and wet pine. I allowed my senses to be overwhelmed with the smell, and touch and sight of him, absorbing them all together in my body and feeling it respond with a sharp jolt between my legs.

From my position with my head on his chest I turned my head upwards, and waited for him to look down and meet my gaze.

"Think you need to give me another lesson." I suggested.

"In huntin'?"

"No. In keepin' real quiet."

I examined his face as I watched his eyes grow wide in realisation of what I was talking about. The last time he had taken me out hunting, he had tried to give me a lesson in keeping real quiet under pressure. I knew I had failed miserably, but we had been interrupted before he was able to give me a final evaluation.

Daryl let the bow in his hand drop to the ground. Then he placed both hands on the side of my face and pulled me towards him for a kiss. It was a wet, hot, passionate kiss; the type that sent chills through my body and left me gasping for air. He ran his fingers over my shoulder and slipped them under the strap of the crossbow and lifted it over my head and dropped it down on top of his bow. Then he put his hands on to my back and pulled me against his chest. He put his mouth to my lips and took my lower lip in his teeth, biting down gently and drawing back on it, until it had sprung free.

The new style of kissing left me trembling at the knees and wanting for more. I pushed my lips against his and returned a kiss of lustful fury, using my tongue, lips and teeth to assault his willing mouth. The kiss continued while he ran his hands over my body, to my backside and up my shirt exposing my skin to the freezing winter air. The sudden cold, mixed with the fire already in my blood made me moan, and he chuckled lightly at me.

"So you still wanna do it out in the wild like animals, huh?" He murmured into my mouth.

"Yes, Mr Dixon." I whispered, my lips brushing gently against his.

He pulled away from me, and grabbed at his poncho and pulled it over his head. He took it in two hands and shook it and then spread it on the damp ground by our feet. Then he turned back to me, grabbed me by the back of my thighs and lifted me up so my legs wrapped about him above his waist. He spun me around and then went to his knees and lay me gently back down on his poncho.

He sat back and began placing firm kisses against my inner thigh, pressing them against my jeans, and then moved down my bent leg to the crotch of my jeans and growled hot air between my legs. I giggled at him, and ran my fingers through his long, dark hair.

I heard a low whimper from my side and we both turned our heads to Mix, who was sitting by us, watching our little performance, and looking as anxious as a dog could look.

"Think maybe he doesn't like to watch?" Daryl asked turning back to me.

His question was answered when Mix let out another whimper and then darted off in to the woods.

Daryl went back to kissing me, moving his mouth upwards, over the fly of my jeans and to my bare naval, lifting my shirt as he made his way upward.

My skin was all gooseflesh, both from the cold air, and from the exhilaration of his hot wet lips against my skin. He continued to push my shirt up to my bra and then, slipped his fingers under the wiring and pushed that up over my breasts too, so that everything was bundled up on my neck. My nipples drew tight as the freezing air fell on them.

He stopped suddenly, and I looked down on his face that was glaring at my breast.

"What happened here?" He asked, and I remembered that Anton had bit me there, and there was still a faded blue circular mark left behind.

"That was Anton, he bit me." I told him.

He clucked deep in his throat, and then swallowed hard.

"How close did he get?"

"Pretty close, but I got away. Nothing happened." I reassured him, stroking firmly over his broad shoulders in a comforting manner.

"I'm so fuckin' sorry! I'll never leave you again." He declared passionately before putting his lips back to the mark and kissing it gently.

His mouth moved down against my rock hard nipple and he drew it into his mouth and began suckling on it, until it was warm and supple, and I was groaning in delight.

I began unbuttoning his shirt, while he made his way back and forth between both my breasts, trying to get his mouth over my nipples before they turned hard in the cold air again.

He sat back on his knees and tugged at my belt loosening it and then he undid my jeans exposing my underwear. He sniggered a little at the sight.

"You got some new panties?" He asked.

I crooked my neck a little to see what he was talking about.

"Yeah, while I was out with David, found a pack unopened. They're a little bit small, but you know, can't turn down clean underwear." I had lost my last pair of underwear back in the warehouse with Len, and had felt awkward walking around without any on.

"Did ya have to get ones with kittens all o'er 'em?" He said, running his finger over the frilled elastic waistband. I giggled thinking of the child's underwear I had grabbed.

"Yer makin' me feel like a real creep ya know?" He said, as he slipped his fingers into the top of the underpants and started pulling them down with my jeans.

He dragged my jeans down removing my boots and socks along with them as he pulled them off. My legs were trembling before him, but only in anticipation. I couldn't even feel the cold anymore.

He undid his belt and fly and pulled his jeans down his thighs and then pushed his bare skin against mine.

I rubbed my hands over his exposed chest and down across his abdomen and then around under his shirt to his back, feeling the ridges of the scars. I pulled him towards me, as he pressed himself into me, gliding in slowly through the slick wetness, letting me feel him enter inch by inch. I let out a throaty groan, forgetting all about our lesson.

He put his hands under my arms and pressed on my shoulder blades, pulling my against his chest, and he kissed my neck and ear while he drove himself into me with long deep thrusts. He let out a few desperate groans in to my ear and I moaned loudly up into the canopy of trees above, and it was clear that we had both failed the lesson.

He continued to drive in to me for what felt like an eternity. I lost all sense of time and location as my mind and body ascended into heavenly bliss. I was only drawn out of my state when I felt him suddenly still above me. I opened my eyes to see what had made him stop. And followed his gaze over my head to see a walker was approaching in filthy and tattered clothes, with grey skin sagging off its skeletal frame. It was moaning through a gaping mouth with its arms outstretched stumbling towards us.

Without even waiting for Daryl to say or do anything, I reached to the side and grabbed for the crossbow. Then holding the bow upside down I aimed it up towards the Walkers chin, and shot the arrow up into its skull. It fell slowly to its knees and toppled to the side landing only a few feet away from us.

I dropped the bow above my head and looked back to Daryl who was glaring at me with a baffled look on his face.

"What?" I said, with a shrug of my shoulders.

"That was…kind of a turn on." He said before putting his lips back to my neck and mouthing over the column of my throat while he continued to drive in to me. My lips drew into a wide grin and I allowed myself to moan loudly, not caring who or what heard me.

When he had reached his climax he pulled himself out of me and emptied on to the dirt beside the poncho, with a staggered groan. He looked back at me when he was done, breathing heavily with his bare chest rising and falling noticeably.

"We're gonna need to get some rubbers." He said. "That's gettin' harder to do every time."

* * *

We took time redressing, mostly as we were distracted by our hands and lips moving all over each other's bodies, filled with our remaining lust. When we were finally done, he pulled me up off the poncho and picked it up and gave it a shake, then pulled it back over his head.

"Smells like you?" He said sniffing at the fabric.

"Is that good?" I asked.

"Yeah, but might be kind of distractin'."

We both grinned at each other and then went to pick up our bows. I drew up on the string to reload it and he watched as my muscles flexed and strained until it latched into place. I looked up at him, and he gave me a look of pride. I nocked an arrow into place and then swung the bow upwards while turning back to the creek.

I stopped suddenly, mid-turn, as I spotted a large stag, with bone coloured antlers growing out of its head like barren tree branches. It was making its way down the embankment of the creek, completely oblivious to our presence.

Daryl looked to me and nodded, indicating that I should take a shot. I silently took to a knee and shot the crossbow sending the bolt directly into its eye. It let out a small shriek and then fell to the ground.

"Well done!" Daryl marvelled, before giving me an encouraging pat on the back. "Don't think you need me at all no more."

I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in for a rough kiss.

"I will always need you." I informed him firmly.

We both stalked over to where the Stag was laying on the embankment. Its heavy body was slowly slipping against the leaves towards the rushing water. It looked like it was going to be real heavy and I wondered if we were going to be able to carry it back to Terminus.

Daryl was looking down at the embankment determining a safe path down so he could get a good hold of the stag. He placed his bow on the ground, and then began easing his way down, to the stag's head, where he grabbed hold of the antlers and began trying to drag it back up. I watched him as he struggled and strained, and then put my bow down ready to go and give him aid, but halted when I saw his boot sink into the mud and then him slip down the embankment dragging the stag down with him.

I watched in horror as he fell into the icy water, with the stag slamming up against him, so he was knocked down under the water towards the rocks below. He was now rolling and tumbling through the rushing water, trying to grip against the protruding rocks. I ran alongside him on the bank of the creek trying to catch up to him. I let out a squeal as I saw him knock his head against one of the sharp rocks and go under the water.

"Daryl!" I shrieked, as I darted down the more gentle slope and splashed my boots into the chilly water. I was momentarily relieved when his head came back up coughing and spluttering, with blue fingers gripping against the nearby rocks. He managed to drag himself over to me slowly and I met him half way and tried to pull his heavy body out of the water. His soaking boots and clothing were pulling him down and I grunted and groaned and strained trying to tug his weight through the rushing water.

He was getting so heavy, and my arms were trembling with fear, cold and overexertion and I had the horrible thought that I was going to let go of him and he would go tumbling down the creek and out of sight.

Just when I thought I couldn't hold him any longer, I felt his body suddenly get lighter. I looked down to see the wet, matted clumps of fur and teeth of Mix, pulling on his poncho and helping me drag him back to the bank. When we got there I fell down beside Daryl utterly exhausted. Daryl was trembling beside me on the dirt. His wet hair was pasted to his forehead, his teeth chattering uncontrollably and his lips and hands were blue.

"F…f…f… fuck!" He chattered, watching as the Stag tumbled down the creek, lost forever.

**AN: Thank you to all who have reviewed and followed. It's what gives me the motivation to go on. The chapters are going to slow down a bit now** **I've caught up to AO3. I hope to have a new one out at least once a week.**


	18. Heat

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter VI**

**Heat**

**AN: This chapter is NOT a dig at Carol or Caryl shippers. This is all part of a larger story which will probably make Carol fans run screaming, but I'm hoping the rest of you will find it interesting. I love Carol by the way.**

***warning* Contains sexually explicit material (Which will probably make you laugh)**

I was fucking cold. And numb. And feeling like a useless asshole, being dragged by a girl half my size through the woods in my heavy, sodden clothing.

My thoughts were all on getting hypothermic and dying. After all the danger I had been in over the last few years -heck over my entire life!- Daryl Dixon was going to be taken down by the mother fucking cold.

Beth had been struggling under the weight of me for at least an hour, probably longer. She was panting and puffing and sweating despite the cold. She had stumbled and dropped me in to the dirt half a dozen times and then struggled to pull me back on to her shoulders, while ignoring my unintelligible grunting of "_Just leave me the fuck here."_

It was Rick and Abraham who spotted me first, being dragged across the tracks with my lifeless, numb feet trailing through the rocks. Rick had thrown Judith Beth's way and then took me over his shoulder with Abraham on the other side, and rushed me in to the mess hall with the furnace.

Rick ordered everyone out of the mess hall for the day, and sent Beth away telling her I needed privacy. Beth had given me a concerned look and then obediently taken Judith away. Rick dropped me onto the couch and with the help of Abraham, began ripping of my clothing, cussing, and hissing and growling about cutting it all off. They had managed to get me butt naked without the use of scissors, much to my relief, and now I was lying on the couch in front of the furnace, wrapped in layers of blankets and trembling uncontrollably.

The closest thing we had to a doctor at Terminus was Bob, and he was called on in to examine me. He came in with his arm all bandaged up from where he had been shot when we took Terminus. He had brought along a medical kit from the Terminus infirmary, which was pretty well stocked. He put some plasters on my minor cuts, and examined some of the bruises and then took my temperature and my pulse, and monitored my breathing for a few seconds.

"You're still shivering, so that's a good sign." He commented, once he had finished prodding and probing me.

"I'm f..f..fucking c…c…cold." I chattered.

"You'll live. We just got to keep you warm." He insisted. "Lucky you're so fit, or it could have been a lot worse"

"I d..d..don't feel fit." I chattered. "I f..f..feel like sh…shit."

"If you didn't smoke, your recovery would be even quicker." He added with a chuckle.

"I…h…haven't in w…w…weeks." I replied. Why did he have to remind me of that? As if I wasn't in enough pain as it was.

"That's good, you should be back to normal in no time then." He patted me gently on the shoulder and then walked off out of the room, meeting Beth at the door with Judith in her arms.

Beth asked the doc how I was doing and if I was allowed visitors. Bob gave her a rundown basically telling her I was being a big sap and told her she could only stay for a short while, because the big baby needed his sleep.

She knelt beside me with Judith on her lap and put her burning hands to my trembling shoulders, and tried to hold them still.

"I'm so sorry Daryl, I should have helped you with that Stag." She said with a frown creasing her pretty brow.

"N...n...no. W...we would have b…b…both been screwed." I let out a big sigh, exhausted from the effort of speaking.

She put her head to my chest and gave me a squeeze.

"Look at you all wrapped up and helpless like a little baby." She lifted her head and looked at me with eyes full of mocking.

"I ain't h…h…helpless." I lied.

"Yes you are." She said squeezing my cheeks and speaking to me through pursed lips like I was Judith. "You're like lil ass kicker." She chuckled, nodding her head down to Judith who was pawing at my layers of blankets.

"I'll k…k…kick _your_ ass." I chattered.

"K…k…kick my ass will you?" She teased.

"S…stop." I pleaded playfully.

"On baby, I could stay here and play with you all day, but I got another baby to take care of." She pulled the blankets under my chin, as if she was tucking in a child. "Rick's busy sorting out the other survivors, and organising food. You know leader stuff. I said I would take Judith for the day. I'll be back later to check up on you." She gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and then stood up. "Make sure you get some rest, _sweety_."

If Beth was happy to tease me, I must not be as close to death as I originally thought.

* * *

I did fall asleep sometime after that. All the trembling and shaking and teeth chattering had been exhausting. It was the clinking of steel against china that woke me up. It was dark out, I must have slept through lunch and dinner. My stomach started growling at the sight of Carol who was kneeling beside me with a bowl in her hands.

"I made you some chicken soup." She said presenting me with the bowl.

I sat up and pulled the blankets up to my chin, trying to keep the warmth in.

"Well I didn't make it, I got it from a can. That David fella had one especially for you." She said with a grin.

"That's cool." I said taking the bowl gratefully and resting it on my knees. I immediately started spooning the soup in my mouth. It tasted pretty great for canned soup. I hadn't spoken with David much since I first met him, but one day I would have to make the effort to talk with him and thank him for saving Beth, and for the soup.

"We're struggling for food, you know." Carol said while watching me scoop the soup into my mouth.

"No-one brought anythin' in today?" I asked referring to the hunting groups that had all left this morning at the same time as me.

"No. Nobody saw anything. Too bad you lost that deer."

I groaned thinking about the wasted meat that would be rotting on a creek bed somewhere.

"Can't believe how dumb I was, losing it like that." I thought out loud.

"Don't you call yourself dumb, mister." She said poking me playfully on the tip of my nose. "You've taken care of the lot of us for some time now, 'bout time we returned the favour."

I was finished with the soup now, and she made to wipe at my lips with the sleeve of her sweater. I flinched away from her touch.

"You took care of _me_ the most, Daryl. Now let me take care of you." She said, pushing the fabric to my lips, and blotting gently. I allowed her to continue, feeling like an incompetent child.

"Was nothin'" I insisted.

"You care about me though, don't you?" She asked, collecting the bowl and then putting it on the nearby end table.

"Yeah 'course I do."

She knelt back beside me. "Good, I need someone to care for me." Her face fell into a frown. "I've been feeling so…empty…since." She gave a choking sound and then looked up to the ceiling and sighed.

"What's up? What happened?" I asked.

She pressed her lips together like she was holding back a sob and gave a shake of her head.

"I killed her, Daryl." She muttered.

"Killed who?"

"I killed Sophia."

I thought about Carol's little girl, and how we had lost her all that time ago. I had fought so hard to find her, and it had crushed me when we discovered she had been turned to a walker and locked away in Hershel's barn. Carol never really spoke about her, and I thought maybe she had got over it all, but I guess it still upset her some, and it seemed she blamed herself.

"Nah, that weren't your fault." I insisted, trying to comfort her.

"It _was_ my fault Daryl. I made her look at the flowers and then I shot her in the back of the head." She let out another choked sigh.

"What're you talkin' 'bout? Sophia was bit by a walker." I reminded her. Was I hearing right? Maybe the cold had done something to my brain.

"No. No she wasn't. I killed her. I killed my little girl." Carol insisted.

Carol threw her head down into my chest and started sobbing. I stroked my hand through her greying hair and shushed into her ear trying to comfort her, the best way I could.

I had no idea what she was talking about, she sounded like she was confused. She must be suffering through some kind of post-traumatic stress. I wasn't used to this kind of stuff, girls crying all over me. I didn't really know how to make her feel better. I kept up with the strokes on her head and along her back and I instinctively pushed my lips into her forehead. That was Beth's fault. She was the one who taught me how to care about people.

Carol turned her head upwards and pushed her lips into mine, and began mouthing at them. I let her linger there for a few seconds trying to figure out what the hell was happening. When my brain had caught up to my body I grabbed her by her shoulders and jerked her back, as far as I could with my weak arms.

"Whoa, hold up a minute there." I said, holding her at a safe distance.

Her face was still wet with tears. She drew her hands up to my face and started running her fingers through the hair on my chin.

"You've always been so good to me, Daryl." She murmured watching my eyes with growing intensity.

"Yeah, and you been good to me, but I don't want nothin'…"

She pushed her fingers to my lips to quieten me.

"I know you don't want nothin' now. You're all screwed up like me." She twirled her fingers close to her ear. "Damaged people like us find it hard to trust, but maybe we could help each other─ get better─ and then maybe after that we could be together."

What she was saying was kind of creepy, and erratic, and not at all like the Carol I knew back at the prison. She had said things to me before, playful things, but I was sure she never meant anything by it.

"Carol, I don't think…" I was going to tell her, I wasn't interested in her, that I didn't want to be with her, that I saw her as a friend and nothing more, but she interrupted me.

"Shhh lets not talk about it now." She said holding up her hands defensively. " You've been through a lot today, and I'm real tired too."

She was real tired? Maybe that's why she was acting all weird. She placed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm going to bed. We can talk more in the morning." She murmured against my skin.

She gave me a smile and then stood up and walked to the door. I jumped a little when I saw Beth in the doorway, wondering what she had seen.

"Oh hey, Beth. Daryl was just about to get some sleep, weren't you Daryl?" Carol said stopping and turning back to me.

"Uhuh." I uttered, lost for words.

"I won't be long, just wanted to say goodnight." Beth said glancing over to me and smiling.

"Okay, don't tire him out, our boy needs his rest." Instructed Carol, while she smiled back at me and gave a wink, before making her way out of the door and down the corridor.

When Carol was well out of sight, Beth dropped to her knees beside the couch and kissed me on the lips.

"What was that wink all about?" She asked me with a grin, absent of jealousy.

"Man, I don't even know." I replied, rubbing my hands through my hair, and pushing against my head trying to stop it from exploding with all the confused thoughts that were racing around it.

"I always thought maybe she had a little crush on you, and you on her." Beth said, pursing her lips together thoughtfully.

"Nah, I like her, and I care about her a lot, but not like I care about you." I assured her.

"Well that's good then, I don't really want to share you." She said with a cheeky grin.

She slipped her hand under the blanket and began rubbing on my bare chest. I ignored the tingling sensation I felt when her skin brushed against mine and stared up at the plasterboard ceiling lost in thought. Should I tell Beth, what just happened? Would she be pissed at me? I didn't like keeping secrets from her, and it wasn't the best way to start a relationship.

"She kissed me." I finally confessed.

"When, back at the prison?" Beth asked while continuing to wind her fingers through my chest hair.

"Nah, just then. Just before you came in."

Beth's hand stopped moving. "Did you kiss her back?" She asked.

"Hell no! I only got eyes for one girl." I said turning to her and managing a weak smile.

"I don't think she's gonna take it well when we tell her." Beth murmured thoughtfully.

"Maybe not." I said, while reaching under the covers and taking Beth's hand in mine. "But we gotta tell 'em." I pulled her fingers to my mouth and kissed the tips gently.

She smiled back at me, and then pushed her own lips to mine and gave me a long closed mouth kiss, and then rested her head against my chest, looking towards the fire dancing in the furnace.

"Are you completely naked under there?" She asked, lifting up the blankets and peering under the covers. She must have been taking note of my clothes, boots and poncho laying out to dry.

I pulled the blankets back quickly. I was still pretty cold, and my dick was looking less than impressive.

"Yep everythin' was soaked, so it all had to come off." I informed her.

She looked to my vest that was drying on the chair a bit further away from the furnace.

"Will your vest be okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, looks like it. Gotta find some oil to rub it down with once it's dry." I crooked my head a bit to look over at the poncho, still damp and letting off steam as it dried. "Pissed that your smell is washed out of my poncho though." I added.

She looked down on me and gave me a sly grin. "Don't worry we can put it back." She said, as she slipped her hand back under the covers and ran it down my gut and straight on to my cock. I gave a little jump in shock, even though her hand was warm.

"What happened to it?" She asked lifting the blankets again and pulling them over her head so she could inspect it closer.

"Stop it." I snapped, trying to bunch the blankets around it again. She kept her hand firmly wrapped around it anyway, but let me at least cover it back up. "What if your sister comes down here?" I asked her glancing at the open door.

"Everyone's in bed." She assured me, while trying to lift up the blankets again. I pulled them back down again and growled at her.

"Penises are funny." She said while rolling her hand all over my shrivelled cock.

"Gee, thanks. I'm pretty fuckin' cold ya know?"

She giggled. "No, I mean, Abraham, he's taller than you, and chunkier than you, but his penis is a lot smaller than yours."

I smirked to myself. "His ain't small." I said, winking at her.

She giggled again and began stroking her hand up and down the shaft of my cock in firm, long strokes. Pulling and stretching it.

"Yours ain't so small anymore either." She commented, giving my thickening cock a squeeze.

She gently drew her bottom lip in between her teeth and peered at me through lowered lids like she was some sort of porn star. I put my hand down on top of hers trying to stop her movement. She had to be kidding. Was once a day not enough for her? Fuck, if only I could be eighteen again.

"Gimme a break, girl I could've died today." I reminded her.

She took her hand away from me and put both hands to her sweater and began loosening it.

"What're you doin' girl? Ain't you listenin'?

She pulled it over her head and then tugged at her tee and pulled that off too so she was kneeling beside me in her bra and jeans.

"I know. I just want to keep you warm." She said while standing up and shimmying her jeans down off her legs.

"Why're you takin' your clothes off then?" I said, tearing my eyes away from her panties and looking at her flushed face.

She lifted the blankets and made me shift over so she could slip in beside me. "I saw it on TV once. The best way to keep someone warm is with body warmth and skin to skin contact." She told me.

Yeah I bet. The best way to keep someone warm, and the best way to make their frozen cock get hard again.

"Oh yeah? You saw it on TV huh?" I couldn't stop the grin that was creeping on to my face, or the dirty thoughts that were running through my previously exhausted mind.

"Yeah. Or read it, or somethin'. Sounds like a good idea though, don't you think?"

She was now laying beside me with one hand propped under her head, and the other back on my hardening cock, rubbing her hand over it from palm to fingertip.

I let out a groan in response and then swallowed. "No. It sounds like a fuckin' terrible idea. I'm completely screwed Beth, I can't do nothin'."

I was exhausted, and we were in the middle of the fucking mess hall. With Maggie and all the others just upstairs.

"You don't have to do nothin'." She told me, gripping around me again and pulling firmer. My cock was rock hard now, and I had forgotten all about how cold I was.

"You're gonna be the death of me, girl." I groaned.

"Uh uh, you're gonna be the last man standin'." She murmured into my ear, pushing her tits against my shoulder.

I couldn't talk after that, or think about being out in the open. Her hand was casting spells all over my dick, and her breath in my ear was hypnotising my mind. She was rubbing and tugging, and squeezing and pulling. Her mouth was all over my neck and my ear, and all I could do was focus on not crying out like a little kid wanting to open his Christmas presents.

I was kind of amazed. For someone who didn't have a lot of experience, she certainly knew how to jerk a guy off. My body was numb and dead tired and weak from exhaustion, but my cock was on fire, throbbing against her firm grip.

Her arm was jerking up and down, making the covers dance and she was panting heavily into my ear, making every hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Then she let out a deep sigh blowing hot air all over my neck, and I was completely done for. I felt my cock spasm and then it was shooting out all over the blanket.

"What in the world…" Came a disbelieving cry from behind my head.

Beth and I both jumped in shock and Beth tumbled off the couch to the ground, rolling in the blankets and pulling them down with her. I made a grab for them trying to cover my dick and the mess it was still making, and ended up just exposing my bare ass up at Carol.

"Thought you were goin' to bed." I managed to choke out, while I pulled the blankets off Beth and left her on the floor in her panties and bra. All cold was now gone from my body, and I just felt the heat of extreme embarrassment.

"I was, but then I remembered you're not supposed to leave a person alone if they have hypothermia." She glanced over to Beth who was struggling with her clothes, hopping around frantically, and bright red in the face. "I can see you're not alone, though." Carol added.

"Beth was jus' helpin' me keep warm." I tried to explain. It wasn't a lie, she _was_ helping me keep warm, and she did a darn good job of it too.

Beth now had her jeans on, and her tee. She had her socks and sweater bundled up in her arms, as she made a hasty dash for the door.

"Umm… I have to go to bed. G'night Carol." She nodded to Carol. "G'night …" She started speaking to me and then trailed off, taking in Carol's less than friendly glare, and then ducked out the door.

Carol turned back to me, glaring with her blue eyes wide open and wild. I sat up on the couch and bunched the blankets around myself.

"What the hell was that?" She cried angrily, pointing her finger to the door where Beth had just left.

"Nothin'. She was jus' keepin' me warm like I said." I insisted.

"Do you know how old that girl is?" She growled at me.

Her growling made my defensive instincts kick in. "Eighteen. An adult." I snarled back.

"She's a child, Daryl. A God damned child! And you're a fully grown man." She was pointing an accusing finger at me now.

I didn't know what to do or say, so I just scowled.

"I really thought better of you, Daryl." She said in a disapproving tone before turning and marching back out the door.

I threw my head back on to the sofa and let out a frustrated growl. That was embarrassing as heck. It was a thousand times more embarrassing than all the times Merle had_ accidently _walked in on me and random girls going at it. It also meant the secret was out, and I was going to have to deal with the backlash in the morning. I spent the rest of the night stressing about what everyone was going to say, and thinking about Beth's soft, warm hand all over my dick.

I didn't get much sleep that night.

* * *

Sometime after daybreak I felt myself drifting off to seep, but I was woken not long after by firm hands gripped onto my shoulder and shaking me roughly. I jumped, startled from the harshness of the shake and found Carol glaring down on me.

"Get dressed, we got a council meeting." She declared angrily. She swung around and marched towards the door. "Next door to the armoury." She called before dissapearing out the doorway.

The eating area was filled with the survivors who had come from the freight container, who were all staring at me in my blanket covered state. Rick must have forgotten to tell them not to come back in here in the morning.

I held the blanket to me and slid off the couch and edged my way over to the clothes on the floor. I pulled up my jeans under the blanket and did my belt up.

A few people had the decency to look away, but there were a couple of them who kept staring.

"Do ya mind!" I growled at them angrily, and they all turned back to what they were doing.

I pulled on my shirts and my vest. Then I sat back on the couch and pulled on my socks and boots, lastly I slipped on my knife sheath with my Busse still firmly strapped in. I had no idea where my Airborne was, but hopefully I wouldn't need it. The only danger I was likely to face today was Maggie.

I made my way outside and to the building next door to the one I was in and made my way upstairs to the room next door to the armoury. It was a larger office than the ones we were sleeping in, and it had a large conference table in the middle and several chairs surrounding it, where the other council members were now seated.

It wasn't the same people in there who had been on the council at the Prison. Of course there was no more Hershel, so that made a big difference. Now Maggie, Tyreese, Michonne, Bob and Rick took his place. Eugene and Abraham where also in there, but they stood back in the corner as if they weren't part of the group.

"Take a seat." Rick said to me while pulling out the chair nearest to him.

"New council 'ey?" I asked while marching over to the seat, rolling it out and sitting in it with my feet kicked forward.

"Prison family." Rick stated simply. "The people we can trust."

"What about Beth?" I asked, running my eyes over everyone at the table and trying my best to avoid Carols glare.

"Beth's just a child Daryl, she's not responsible enough to make these kinds of decisions." Carol declared, with eyes narrowing towards me. "And she's not responsible enough to be sleeping with someone twice her age."

Everyone looked at Carol like they had no idea what she was talking about, except Maggie who stared into the distance like she was just coming to realise something. I froze still, not knowing what to do or say next, and just hoping the comment would slip through the air unnoticed.

"You're fuckin' my sister?" Maggie said while giving me a wild eyed glare.

Everyone snapped their heads around and stared at me. I hadn't felt this on my own since I lost Merle back in Atlanta. I went back into defensive mode again jumping up and pushing my chair away. It rolled a little and then toppled over on the floor.

"It's none of y'all's business anyway." I growled angrily, feeling real shitty with everyone glaring at me like that.

"You're fuckin' my sister." Maggie repeated half shrieking, while standing and pointing a finger at me, and shooting daggers through her green eyes.

"So what if I am?" I said giving my shoulders an exaggerated shrug. This was not how I wanted it to go down. Damn you Carol.

"Well she would still be in highschool, Daryl." Carol said crossing her arms angrily over her chest.

"Now lets all calm down, it really is none of our business." Rick said while putting his arms up between Maggie, Carol and I. "She's a big girl now, she can make her own choices."

"She's just…she's my… baby sister." Maggie said in a surprisingly soft tone, and falling back to her seat. "I'm meant to protect her."

I looked around to everyone else, wondering if they felt like Beth needed protecting from me too. They all just looked at me like fish caught on land.

"Yeah, well y'all would be dead if it weren't for this _baby_ you're so hell bent on protectin'." I pointed out to them, while pacing the floor angrily, feeling like an outcast.

"She's just a child." Insisted Carol.

I stopped in my tracks, and pointed a finger into the centre of the table.

"You know what? Fuck the council." I growled. "All of us should be 'ere makin' decisions. Imma go get Beth."

I stormed to the door and swung it open, and turned back to Rick before walking out.

"Get Carl up in 'ere too. There _are_ no children in this shit-hole world no more."

* * *

**AN: So I decided to be a bit more interactive and make use of my Tumblr account (which I really have no idea how to use). Thought I might put up some concept art and missing moments, and any other tid bits you guys ask for. Maybe even some prompt fics if I find the time.**

**Tumblr is deni269**

**Twitter is DeniLeeRidder I have no idea how to use that one either...**

***Important note* I almost forgot to do my civil duty and advise you all that you shouldn't rub someone who has hypothermia. Skin to skin contact is a good idea though.**


	19. Swinging

**The Walking Deth - Part I**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter VII**

**AN: No, the chapter title doesn't mean what you think it means ;) Although there is some love triangle stuff going on in there.  
Once again, I love you Carol.**

***Warning* No sex or violence in here, just women acting crazy.**

**Swinging**

I was so embarrassed about what happened last night down in the mess hall with Daryl. I don't even know what had come over me. I only intended to go down there and make sure he was okay and say goodnight. But then he had been lying back with his hair all messy and wild, and scratches on his face, and his muscular shoulders were peeping out from under the blankets and I just couldn't help myself. Then Carol had caught us out right at the worst possible time. I had high tailed it out of there and left Daryl to deal with her, and I spent the rest of the night wondering what had gone down after I left.

I woke up fairly early that morning. My stomach was all cramped up, probably because of the anxiety from last night, or maybe that little bit of human meat I tasted was still twisting in my stomach. I went downstairs to the toilet, and thought about going in to see Daryl, but I was stopped outside the bathroom door by Rick handing me Judith and asking me to watch her while he took care of business. It gave me a happy feeling getting back into the routines we had at the prison. Me taking care of Judith, and Rick feeling like he could handle the responsibility of leadership again.

I had popped my head in to the mess hall to see how Daryl was going and saw he was sleeping soundly, so I decided to take Judith back up to my room. Judith played happily on the floor while I lay beside her on the mattress writing in my journal. It was torn and tattered and dirty from being dragged halfway through Georgia, but the pages were still white. I dared to write in my hopes and dreams about being able to stay safely at Terminus, but I ended up cutting it short when I realised the page was covered in little love hearts, 'Daryl and Beth 4eva' and 'Beth Ann Dixon'. That page was ripped out screwed into a ball and stuffed under the mattress for lack of a bin. I was cringing thinking about how juvenile that was, and Daryl would feel even more like a creep if he ever found it.

I lay back on the mattress and let Judith climb over me, babbling and drooling and mouthing at my shoulder. That little girl always knew how to make me smile. I started singing her favourite lullaby to her, for old time's sake.

When I'm lyin' in my bed at night  
I don't wanna grow up  
Nothin' ever seems to turn out right  
I don't wanna grow up  
How do you move in a world of fog  
That's always changing…

I was interrupted by a tapping on the window pane in the door.

"Can I come in." Came a gruff voice I recognised as Daryl.

"Uhuh." I called, pushing Judith of me and sitting up.

He opened the door slowly and stuck his head in, looking a little sheepish. He was probably still embarrassed about what happened last night. He stepped in the door and lingered next to the doorway leaning on the wall. He was looking down at his feet like he had done something wrong.

"What is it?" I asked. Hoping he wasn't trying to end it all after what had happened.

"They all know." He answered looking up at me and chewing on the side of his lip.

"They? …who...Who knows what?" I had a pretty good idea what he was talking about, but I needed him to confirm it.

"They all know 'bout us. Carol told 'em."

I put my hands to face that was heating face in embarrassment. "Oh no! Did she tell them what happened?"

Daryl shook his head, but was still chewing on his lip. "Nah, didn't have to. But they know we're…ah…doin' it."

I pulled Judith into my arms and stood up and started pacing nervously, bouncing Judith on my hip.

"What are we gonna do? What am I gonna say to Maggie? Oh this is so Awkward." I thought out loud.

"It's gonna get more awkward." He said standing up straight and pushing the door open. "You're comin' to your first council meetin'."

* * *

When I walked in the room of familiar faces all staring up at me, I felt like I was going to be sat down like a school kid and lectured on my behaviour. But after Daryl escorted me in and pulled a chair out for me to sit, everyone looked away from me and back to Rick waiting for him to get on with it.

Abraham and Eugene were lingering in the corner of the office by the window. I only knew a little about the two. Eugene was some kind of scientist who had been studying the virus that caused all this mess, and Abraham was some kind of body guard.

Apparently Eugene was keeping in contact with folks up in DC, and they were working on a cure. Abraham wanted us all to escort Eugene up there so he could share his 'classified information' with them.

"I'm not gonna make anyone do anythin' they don't want to. I know we only just got settled in here, and we've been out on the long road for some time. So I'm puttin' it to a vote to decide what we do here." Rick explained to us all, after Abraham had given his spiel.

"Do we go to DC with Eugene, and help save humanity and what not?" Rick looked around to everyone waiting for them to raise their hands.

Sasha, Bob, Maggie and Glenn shot their hands straight up, along with Carl who looked excited to be included in the discussion. They were followed more slowly by Rick and Michonne. Judith babbled and slapped her hands on the table.

I did like the idea of being settled in a new place, and Terminus was starting to grow on me now the man eaters were taken care of. But at the same time the opportunity to find a cure for this whole mess was too good to pass up. If we found a cure we wouldn't need a place like Terminus anymore. We could go back to living our lives. We could even go back to the farm, even though it would be empty without daddy there.

I stuck my hand straight into the air, and turned my head behind me to see what Daryl was doing. Daryl was watching me carefully, and raised his arm slowly when I turned to look at him.

What's the other choice?" Tyreese asked, swaying slightly from side to side in his chair.

"We stay here and try to make Terminus our home." Rick said looking to him, while he lowered his hand.

Tyreese put his hand up, followed more slowly by Carol. Sasha let out a sigh and then raised her hand too with Bob following.

"You only get one vote." Rick said to Sasha.

"Well I said I would go with them to DC, to help out, but I only want to go if we all are." She explained, looking to Tyreese. "I don't want to get split again."

"Maybe the vote should be unanimous?" Suggested Bob.

"Oh come on folks, we're already way behind schedule." Abraham pleaded stepping forward towards the table and laying a heavy hand down on it.

"I'm easy." Daryl said from behind me. "I'll go wherever the rest of you go."

"We're talking about a cure here guys, a real cure! We won't need a place like Terminus if they find a cure." Maggie insisted, thinking just like a Greene.

"_If_ they find a cure." Pointed out Tyreese

"They have no chance without Eugene." Abraham said glancing over his shoulder at the stern faced scientist.

Bickering broke out, with everyone arguing the points for and against going to DC and for and against staying at Terminus. Rick just glanced above my head at Daryl casually while the bickering continued. I expected Rick to be the one who stopped it, but it was Eugene who spoke up.

"We don't need to argue about this right now." He called out raising his hands for quiet. He pointed to his radio sticking out of the front pocket of his vest.

"I haven't heard anythin' from the folk over in DC for some time now, since before we were locked up. I don't know what's goin' on there, or if the facility is even still up and running."

Everyone started groaning in disbelief and he held up a hand for silence. "I don't think that means hope is lost, but there's no rush for us to get there. If you want we can stay here a bit, recover, give it some more thought, and then we can all head out together." Eugene continued.

Abraham grumbled something under his breath and turned and stared out the window.

Rick looked around at all of us with his hands pressed together thoughtfully. "Sounds reasonable. We stay here for a bit, recover some, and we'll vote on it again, in say a week's time?"

There were a few groans and mumbles, and then everyone raised their hands to agree. Abraham cussed and then stormed out the door, and Eugene slunk out after him leaving the council alone.

"Next order of business." Rick looked to all of us. "We have an issue with food. There are a few fresh vegetables, that might last us a few days, a good supply of milk and still a few cartons of cereal, but it won't last us long. That deer Daryl shot down yesterday would have been a huge help, but no one else has seen anything else around these parts. We're gonna have to do something about food."

I didn't bother correcting them that it was actually me who shot the deer, not Daryl.

"I can do a run tomorrow, check out the nearby towns." Suggested Glenn.

"I'll go too." Daryl offered from behind me.

"Only If you're strong enough." Rick said to Daryl with concern on his face.

"I'm fine. Feel much better after last night." Daryl said. I blushed and took note of Carol glaring at the pair of us.

"You should take David. He knows these parts." I suggested, trying to take my mind of my embarrassment.

"I'll talk to David and the three of you can go out tomorrow see what you can find and we'll take it from there." Rick said, looking around to the group, and grinning when no one protested.

"The last thing we need to bring up is our captives in the train car." His grin left his face and turned into a scowl. "David, wants us to let them go, or at least feed them, but I ain't willin' to give up our little food. So do we let them go?"

"Hell no." Daryl barked behind me. He had the most reason to hate them. They had very nearly eaten him.

"No." Came a choir of voices.

Everyone looked to me waiting for an answer. "I don't really know. I mean, I think they're not all bad people. David seemed to think they were just trying to get by in their own way." I could feel Daryl's eyes burning a hole in the back of my neck. I pictured him hanging there naked, with the body of a woman hanging nearby him and a man cut to pieces on the table.

"No." I ended up saying flatly.

"I think we should let them go." Carol added in. Everyone looked to her.

"They were just trying to survive. We've all done terrible things, because it was necessary to survive." She explained glancing over to Tyreese.

"We ain't gonna have those freaks wanderin' 'round 'ere. What happens when they get a bit peckish, hmm? We gonna invite them in for a snack?" Daryl snarled angrily from behind me. "Ain't we got enough things 'round 'ere tryna eat us?" He added.

"I have to agree with Daryl on this one." Rick said leaning forward and putting an authoritative finger to the table. "We just can't have that type roamin' around. We have to put ourselves first."

It reminded me of something I had heard before and I let it slip out of my mouth as I thought it over.

"Never again. Never trust. We first. Always."

* * *

I was relieved to get through that whole meeting without anyone mentioning anything about Daryl and I. When we all walked out the room and Daryl lingered behind waiting for me, I noticed Maggie watching me carefully, and I knew she had something to say to me. Glenn grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away before she could. Rick walked past and took the babbling Judith out of my arms.

"Give you guys some time to talk." He said giving me a smile that made me blush. "You make sure he takes it easy today." He said nodding his head towards a sheepish looking Daryl.

"What have we got to talk about?" I asked turning towards him.

"Sleepin' arrangements." He stated simply.

"Oh yeah? What about them."

"My place or yours?" He asked with a sideways smile.

I turned my head to see if anyone was watching us. They had all turned down the stairway and out of sight, so I gave Daryl a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm already settled in to my room." I said. I wasn't really that settled, but my room was on the opposite side from Maggie and Glenn's room and there was nobody in the room next door to us. We would have the most privacy there.

"I'll get my stuff." Daryl said patting down his pockets on his shirt and pants. "You know where I put my bow?" He asked playfully.

"In there?" I said thumbing over my shoulder to the armory.

Daryl collected the bow, saying he felt safer sleeping beside it. I decided to take my new crossbow over too. Not that I would ever feel unsafe with Daryl sleeping beside me.

* * *

When we got back to the room, Daryl was straight to closing the door and pushing me on to the bed. It creaked loudly when I fell on to it, and creaked and groaned again when Daryl got on top.

"I need to punish you for what you did to me last night." He said leaning down and kissing me roughly.

"Stop it." I said playfully pushing him away "It's the middle of the day someone will hear us."

"You didn't seem to mind when we were in the middle of the mess hall and anyone could walk in." He looked up thoughtfully, and rubbed his chin in an exaggerated manner. "Infact I think someone did." He added

"That was so embaressin'." I said trying to cover my face. He pulled my hands away and started kissing on my neck and moving his hands down towards my belt buckle.

"How do you think it was for me? I was the one with my dick hanging out, 'least you had clothes on."

I giggled thinking about Daryl trying to make a grab for the covers with his bare behind sticking up in the air.

"Oh that's funny is it?" He said pulling my belt open roughly.

"Stop." I insisted again, trying to pull his strong hands away from my jeans. "I can actually hear people outside."

"C'mon what's the matter Greene, can't keep up with an old man?" He grabbed my hands and pulled them together and then held them at the wrists in one hand, while with the other he started tugging at my jeans. I tried to wriggle my wrists free from his grip but he was too strong. Then a feeling, something like fear, shot through my body.

"Stop." I said more firmly.

He was kissing on my neck now, while forcing my jeans down my thighs. I started kicking my legs trying to get him off. He put his knees on top of my shins so I couldn't move them either.

"I'm gonna make you moan so loud, girl. You're not gonna be able to look no-one in the eye for a week." He chuckled into my ear.

"No, stop." I said, with my chest getting tight and my breaths getting quick and shallow. I was dead serious now, but he still thought it was all a game.

"I'm gonna make you scream." He whispered into my ear.

And I lost all control at that point. All I could see was Len's hairy face looking down on me while he was standing between my legs, pushing at me and trying to get in. And then I saw Anton's twisted grin as he was on top of me, overpowering me the same way I was being overpowered now, with my wrists being held in one hand and having my shins pinned down by large and strong knees. Then both of the visions of Anton and Len merged in to one, and they both spoke to me in unison.

_"I'm gonna make you scream."_ They whispered.

And I did. I squeezed my eyes shut and I screamed as loud as I could. I shrieked and cried and threw my head about and bucked my body up and down doing anything I could to get my attackers off me. I felt the weight lift off me and the bed creaked again and then I heard a familiar voice call.

"I was only playin' girl. I ain't gonna do nothin'."

I was gasping and panting and trembling and trying to tell myself that it was okay, that I was safe. But I still felt terrified. I drew my legs in to my body and began rocking back and forth on the bed like a child, sobbing and repeating "stop." to myself over and over again.

I heard the bed creak again and warm, strong arms wrap around my chest and drag me off the bed and pull me in to a familiar smelling body. I opened my eyes to see Daryl's face, twisted in concern, looking down on me. He was cradling me in his arms rocking me back and forth and stroking my hair.

"I'm such a dumb fuck, Beth." He declared passionately. "I didn't even think…"

"Beth." I heard someone call from outside. Then the door was flung open and Maggie was storming in, taking in the sight of Daryl holding me on the floor, and then lunging towards him.

Glenn dove in to the room after her, trying to grab at her raging fists that were pummelling down on Daryl's shoulders. Daryl tried to fend her off with his forearm.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She was shrieking while she clawed at the skin on the arm he was holding up defensively.

I had to pull myself together to defend Daryl before Maggie killed him. "It's okay." I called out to Maggie. "I was just having…a nightmare."

Maggie fell back to the floor toppling on to Glenn, and then studied my face, trying to get the truth out of it. Daryl reached up for the blanket on the bed and dragged it over my legs, trying to cover my exposed thighs.

"About Len, and Anton." I added, trying to convince Maggie, that Daryl was doing no wrong.

She went to her knees and began brushing her wild hair away from her face. Her eyes were darting between Daryl and Myself, and she was panting noticeably.

"Sorry." She finally said in between pants, while looking at Daryl.

"It's okay. Feelin' like I deserve it right 'bout now." He replied while still holding me firmly against his chest.

"I just, I heard you screamin' and I…well… I don't know what I thought." Maggie was looking a little ashamed at her actions. I was angry at her for thinking Daryl would hurt me, but at the same time it was a comfort to know she would defend me so passionately.

"I was coming to talk to Beth." She said, gulping in air trying to catch her breath.

Daryl nodded his head at her.

"Sure." He replied, but kept me wrapped in his arms.

"Alone if possible." She added.

Daryl loosened his grip and dipped his head to look at my face. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine now, just had a bit of a freak out." I tried to manage a weak grin, and then pulled myself off Daryl's lap and sat on the floor leaning against the cot bed, and trying to pull my jeans up under the blanket.

"Come on, man." Glenn said tapping Daryl on the shoulder and then holding a hand out to help him up. Daryl took hold of the hand and gave me one more glance before getting up and following Glenn out the door.

"Jeez Beth, you have no idea how bad that looked comin' in like that." Maggie explained to me while shuffling in close to me where I sat leaning on the bed.

"Daryl would never hurt me." I assured her.

"I know, but for a moment there..." She trailed off while looking around the room deep in thought. "So you two are like together or somethin'?" She asked, her line of conversation suddenly changing direction.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess."

"And you're havin' sex?"

I blushed, and wondered if it would be worse having this conversation with Maggie or with my dad. I gave a dip of my head, and hoped this discussion would be over quickly.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself in to?" She continued.

I bobbed my head up and down in response, even though I was really just playing it as it came.

"Daryl is a really nice guy. We all love him dearly, but he's got a past, he's got a shit load of skeletons in that closet of his." Maggie explained to me.

"I've met some of them." I said with a weak smile.

She smiled back at me, and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"I don't think I need to ask you if you care about him."

"No, you don't. I care about him a lot." I told her.

"And it seems he cares about you." She added.

"He's told me as much." I said, feeling my cheeks flush.

"Well I guess, there's really nothing else to say then." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

I smiled at her, relieved that the conversation was soon to be over. She wasn't angry at me, and she was going to accept my relationship with Daryl. It couldn't have gone any better really, except maybe if she didn't try to kill Daryl.

"You've been safe right?" She asked suddenly, while narrowing her eyes at me.

I tried not to think on it for too long. We had been fairly safe, but I guess we could have been safer. I nodded my head anyway trying to get this part of the conversation over.

"So he's been using condoms?"

I tried not to hesitate too long on that one either, and nodded my head even faster, hoping she wouldn't see past the lie.

"That's a relief. You may not be too young for Daryl. But you are far too young to be having his baby."

* * *

I was still a little shaken after the incident with Daryl that morning. I felt like I should go seek out Daryl for comfort, but when I found him in the mess hall, flicking through an old magazine in front of the furnace, there was some odd sinking feeling that stopped me from going to him. I decided to seek comfort in the next best thing, and went looking for Judith.

I found her directly outside in the courtyard, playing in the sun on a blanket, chewing on the brim of Carl's hat, with Carl lying next to her reading a comic. I lay down on my belly next to him and propped my head up on my hands.  
"What you readin?" I asked.

"_Invincible_. Some super hero comic." He said glancing up at me.

"What's it about?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "He's a teen with super human strength, and he can fly, saves the world that kind of stuff..." He paused for a second and then looked back at me. "Do you think that Dr Eugene could find a cure?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and he looked away sullenly.

"We shouldn't stay here. We should be going to Washington." He said while rubbing his thumb over the pages of the comic.

"We will." I assured him. I was certain we would end up there sooner or later, but I was going to enjoy our time here at Terminus as much as possible.

Carl frowned at me and then crawled to his knees, collected his hat and stood up.

"I'm gonna find my dad, can you watch Judith?" He asked looking down on me.

"Sure." I said, giving him a friendly smile. Carl made a weak effort to return the smile and then went off in search of his dad.

I rolled on to my back and let Judith crawl over me, while I enjoyed the sun and tried to take my mind of the twisting cramps in my belly.

My sun was blocked out by an unexpected shadow. I took a hand to my face to block the glare and try to make out the features of the person standing over me and found Carol staring down.

I cringed thinking about the conversation we were about to have. Carol dropped down on the blanket beside me and started playing with Judith.

"She's a cute baby." She commented, sounding like she was meeting Judith for the first time. I nodded silently, anxious to do away with the small talk and get this discussion out of the way.

"You know that Anton talked a lot about a blonde girl when we were locked up." She said, and then glanced up at me. "Didn't know he was talking about you." She added

That was a bit unexpected. I didn't think she would be talking about Anton of all possible subjects. I shrugged my shoulders wondering exactly what he had said about me in there.

"You know the way he spoke about you, I think he really loved you." Carol went on.

"He didn't love me Carol! He tried to rape me." I snapped back angrily.

Carol raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure? Maybe you gave him the wrong idea, maybe he thought you wanted it. I saw the way you were all over Daryl last night."

I scoffed angrily at her conclusions. "No Carol, he chased me through the woods and pinned me to the ground. I'm pretty sure he knew I didn't want it." I growled.

Carol looked away from my glare and back to Judith. "Two sides." She said with a shrug.

I was so shocked that she was taking Anton's side over mine that I couldn't even respond. So I just glared at her.

"It's a pity you feel that way. He was a really nice guy. So warm and friendly. He sang to me in there you know? kept my spirits up. He would be a better match for you than Daryl, he's much more like you, more your age." She explained to me casually, like we were talking about some boy next door.

"Carol, you're not listening to me! Anton tried to rape me, and he would have killed me! And besides that crucial point, he's dead! We fed him to the Termites!" I was almost shrieking now.

"He's not dead, I just talked to him." Carol said calmly.

"You what?" I gasped.

"Now don't get jealous. You've got Daryl, right? You can't have both at the same time." Carol said smiling back at me.

I stared at her in complete disbelief at what I was hearing. I could feel my eyes widening and my jaw hanging low. She studied my face and then pursed her lips together and narrowed her eyes.

"You're acting weird today." She commented.

_I was thinking the same about you._

When I failed to respond, she got up and brushed off her knees.

"I've got things to do, Beth. You take care of that little girl of yours." She said before turning and walking away.

That whole conversation was crazy, but the way she said 'that little girl of yours', made me think that she didn't even know who Judith was.

* * *

I spent most of the day looking after Judith while the others did what they needed to. They were moving rooms around, arranging rosters for watches, organising weapons, and food, doing their washing, preparing garden beds. Generally doing all the stuff we used to do back at the prison.

I had met a few more of the other survivors. There was Kara and Jason, a brother and sister who were a little older than me, who had lost their parents right at the beginning of the turn. They had come here with a married older couple, Doug and Heather, who had a seventeen year old daughter named Jane. I had come to the conclusion that Jason had a crush on Jane the way he followed her around the place with lost puppy eyes.

There were also three older men; Harry, Noel and Dean. They had been involved in some kind of military operation that went bad. Abraham spent most of his time with them trying to convince them to go to Washington with him and Eugene.

The other survivors were just a mix of people with different backgrounds, but they had all experienced some kind of loss on the way here. They all seemed like nice respectable people, and they were more than willing to help out with any job that Rick gave them.

David spent his time in the worship room talking to God. I still found the place creepy, so I chose not to go in there. Mix spent his time bounding around Terminus, making friends with everyone he came across. He even alerted the watch to a few approaching walkers, and they were able to take them out before they got close.

Daryl avoided me all day. He was most likely embarrassed about everyone knowing about us, and probably still felt bad about what happened in the morning. It might have bothered me that he wasn't talking to me, but I found that I didn't really want to talk to him either.

I didn't eat much that night as my belly was still cramping up and making me feel awful. I decided I would head up to my room early and do some writing before I went to bed. Before heading up there I went past Rick's room to say goodnight to Judith.

I could hear Judith crying as I approached, and when I came to the open door, I found a frazzled looking Rick bouncing her up and down nervously.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked stepping in to the room and holding out my arms for her.

Rick gratefully handed her over to me.

"I don't know. She's been real unsettled. Especially at night, Maybe she's getting some new teeth in."

I examined the dark hollows of Rick's eyes, and figured he must be really tired and run down with trying to get Terminus in to order and keeping up with everyone's demands.

"Do you want me to take her for the night?" I offered.

"Could you?" He said with a grateful sigh.

"No problem." I said, reaching down for the bag of diapers.

* * *

Back in my room I found it didn't take long for me to get her settled. Maybe Rick's stress was making her unsettled. When she was sleeping soundly, I lay her down on the cot bed and went to the desk to write. Daryl came in about an hour later knocking on the door as he opened it.

"You don't have to knock you know, it's your room too." I hissed, a little on edge that he might wake Judith up.

"Sorry." He whispered, while peering down on Judith.

"No watch tonight?" I asked, while turning back to my journal.

"Nope, Rick says I need to rest. I am pretty tired, still recoverin' from yesterday I think."

Daryl closed the door quietly and then sat carefully on the edge of the cot bed and started taking off his boots.

"Didn't seem that way this morning." I said in a voice that was a little harsher than I intended it to be.

"I'm real sorry 'bout that Beth. I don't know what I was thinkin'. Truth is I weren't gonna do nothin' anyway, I was just playin' with ya."

"Well you scared me." I snapped again. I don't know why I was so grumpy at him, I knew he didn't mean anything by it.

He got up off the bed and came behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I shrugged him away.

"I'm tryna write." I told him

_Geez Beth why are you being such a bitch._

"What's wrong with you?" He said holding his hands up defensively.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just tired. We should probably get some sleep." I said with a sigh.

I packed up my journal and blew out some of the candles so the room was only lit with a dim glow. Daryl stripped down to his jeans and stood by the bed waiting for me to get in. I edged in carefully to the cot bed curling up behind Judith. Daryl was standing over me watching me with a frown on his face.

"Not enough room in there for me." He said glumly.

"Well sleep on the floor." I snapped.

"Sheesh, okay then." He said, while dropping heavily on to the mattress and pulling the blanket over him. He turned to face me, with his head propped up on one hand.

"Why don't you come and lay down 'ere with me." He suggested.

"I don't have to have sex with you every night, Daryl." I growled back at him. Judith stirred a little at the harshness of my tone.

Daryl screwed up his face at me like he was about to growl something back, and then sighed and reached out a hand to the bed.

"I'm sorry that weren't what I was suggestin', I didn't think you would wanna after what happened this mornin'."

"Well you're right, so let's just get some sleep." I suggested, pressing my eye lids closed.

I could hear a crinkling sound like scrunched up paper, and my eyes flew open when I realised what it was.

Daryl had the note I had screwed up earlier, and put under the mattress, in his hand and he was reading it. I threw my arm forward and tried to snatch at it. Creaking the bed and jostling Judith around in the process. Judith gave a sigh and then went quiet again.

Daryl was chuckling to himself "Mrs Dixon, hey?" He said with a smirk on his face.

"Give it back, Daryl." I sneered, while I ripped it out of his hands, and stuffed it under my pillow.

Daryl's facial expression changed slowly from a grin to a frown. He must have been thinking about how juvenile I was writing notes like that and hiding them under my bed.

"G'night, Beth." He said gruffly while rolling away from me and pulling the blanket over his shoulder.

I rolled over towards Judith and closed my eyes. I felt a tear slip out from under my eyelids and roll down my cheek as a dozen different emotions swirled through my body.

* * *

Judith woke me up with a sudden wail in the middle of the night. I got her up and checked her nappy, and tried to offer her a bottle of water, but she refused it. I ended up getting off the bed and pacing around the room with her while Daryl watched me through eyes squinted against the dim candle light.

"What's wrong with lil ass kicker?" He finally asked.

"I don't know, maybe her teeth. This must be what Rick was talking about, why he needed rest." I said fretting over the wailing Judith.

"I need rest too. I gotta do a run tomorrow. Maybe you should just give 'er back." Daryl suggested while giving a tired groan.

"Give her back? What about when you have your own kids? Are you gonna give them back too? I guess it will be all my responsibility, huh?" I snarled at him, shocked once more at my sudden change in mood.

"Whatya mean, we don't have no darn kids." He snarled back at me. "Is that what that stupid note was, you wantin' to get married and have mothafuckin' babies with me?"

"Don't swear around Judith." I hissed while covering Judith's ears with my hands "And hell no I don't want no babies with you."

"Well good, cause I don't want no babies neither." He hissed back at me, and then rolled over pulling the blanket over his head.

"Yeah well maybe you should stop fu…screwing me without a condom then!" I snapped at the mountain of blanket.

He tugged the blanket down over his face, and looked up at me.

"Is that what this is all about? Are you worried or somethin'?" He asked in a softened tone.

I fell to the bed heavily, with the crying Judith on my lap. "No. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just tired, my belly is all upset, and everythin' has been drivin' me crazy today." I tried to hold back the sobs that I could feel starting to build up.

Daryl stood up and reached out his arms for Judith. "Let me take Judith for a walk. You try and get some rest." He suggested.

"Are you sure?" I asked, while willingly handing over the baby.

"Yeah. I need to clear my head anyway."

**AN: I have the next chapter almost done, but its a looooong one. I'm trying to figure out if I want to cut some stuff out, or split it in two. The last part of it is really important, so I don't want to mess that up. Hopefully I'll have it all figured out soon.  
Thank you for all your lovely comments :)**


	20. Baby Daddy

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter VIII**

**AN: You might all hate me after this one...or you might love me...**

***Warning* Contains sexual content. Poor poor Daryl.**

* * *

**Baby Daddy**

I had slept down in the mess hall on the couch by the furnace with Judith on my chest that night. She hadn't taken that long to settle. I paced around Terminus with a blanket wrapped around her and my bare shoulders, and talked to a few of the guys on watch. She ended up dozing off, resting on my shoulder. I didn't want to disturb Beth again, seeing as she was in such a bad mood, so I took her in to the mess hall.

When we were up I changed Judith's diaper, and gave her a bottle of water, and then made us both a bowl of cereal. Judith made a huge mess of it, and I had to raid her bag for a change of clothes. Glenn came in while I was buttoning her up and reminded me that we were going on a supply run that day.

I packed up Judith's bag and took her back upstairs to Beth. I almost knocked, but then I remembered how she had snapped at me last night, so I just opened the door slowly. Beth was sitting on the cot bed, writing in her journal, looking freshly washed and in a new sweater.

"I gotta go with Glenn, doin' a supply run." I told her, while holding Judith out for her.

Beth's fine pink lips curled in to a smile while she leant forward and took Judith into her arms, and bounced her down on her knee.

"I'm real sorry 'bout last night." She said looking up at me with sorrowful big blue eyes.

"s'okay." I said with a shrug, you couldn't get mad at a face like that.

"I'm feelin' much better now." She assured me. I nodded my head in acknowledgment, and tried to force my lips into a smile so she knew it was all good.

"You get much sleep?" She asked, studying my eyes.

"Enough." I replied while slipping Judith's diaper bag off my shoulder and dropping it down by the side of the bed. I took a step back and studied her small frame sitting on the edge of the bed with the baby perched on the end of her knees. I was amazed that someone so small and soft could make me completely fall apart in a mess of soppy emotions. And that went for the pair of them.

"Goin' on a run. You need anythin' while I'm out?" I asked her, while reaching down and pulling on my button up shirt and vest, and then slinging my Airborne over my shoulder.

"Nope." She replied with an innocent shake of her head, oblivious to the turmoil she had created within me.

"You need any…lady things." I asked, trying to think of a word to use that didn't make me sound like a dumbass.

She sniggered at me anyway. "You want to get me tampons?" She asked, with an eyebrow cocked, and a teasing smile on her lips.

"Yeah if you need 'em." I said with a shrug. It didn't really bother me none. I had never had to get them on runs before, because Maggie, Michonne or Carol had almost always come with me, and no-one ever asked me specifically to get them if they didn't. My mom had always sent me to the store on my bike when I was a kid to get her lady things ─and a pack of Virginia Slims─ when she was too hung over to get out of bed and get them herself. I knew what the basic necessities of women were. I kind of felt like this was a better way of asking if she had bled yet, rather than just coming right out and saying it.

Beth dropped the grin from her face and looked back to Judith, while she jostled her about playfully.

"I don't know." She said quietly. "I haven't needed them for a long time. Since before we left the prison."

I rested my back on to the frame of the doorway and crossed my arms protectively across my body. That was what I was afraid of. I couldn't help but think maybe she was being so moody 'cause her hormones were all messed up. I didn't know all that much about women, but I knew they turned into a big pile of tears and tantrums when they were pregnant. I was kicking myself that I hadn't been more careful when we had sex. Even though I had pulled out of her every time, it had always been a war of will to do so, and it had always been close. Damn close. I knew it was entirely possible that I may have got to it a little too late.

She was studying my face intently, her eyes flicking back and forth and her lips pursed together like a squashed up heart.

"Don't worry though; I hardly ever got my period since leaving the farm. I think its stress, and malnutrition, you know?" She said in an effort to reassure me.

I frowned to myself, her efforts failing, and I hoped that it would turn out that all this worrying was for nothing.

"You better grab me some…pads. I don't like the tampons much." She said hesitantly with her face beginning to flush pink.

"No problem." I said, pushing myself off the door frame and making my escape before she could sense the fear in my eyes.

"I'll get some condoms too." I added poking my head back in the door before I closed it.

* * *

We took the F 150 out that day. It had the most gas, and if we were able to find a cache of supplies we needed the room to bring it all back with. David drove seeing as he had collected the keys, and I took passenger. Glenn sat in the back, all suited up in his reclaimed riot gear, looking like a tin man in black Kevlar. The little white dog, Mix, jumped in beside him and gave him a long wet lick across his face.

David was going to take us to the nearest Megamart that was about an hour away. He said it was one of the biggest stores in the area, and it stocked just about everything, but he hadn't been able to get out to it since the first few months after the turn. Once we were in and out the gate, David rummaged through the glovebox and pulled out a CD and slid it into the stereo. The CD was filled with Christian rock songs about love and praise of Jesus. I turned to look out the window and studied the wasteland that Jesus had left for us. After driving for about fifteen minutes, the silence between David and I was getting more unbearable than the music so I decided now was as good a time as any to thank him for taking care of Beth.

"I haven't really had the chance to thank you yet." I said, turning down the music.

"For what?" David asked, while eyeing my fingers turning the dial, like I was touching the sacred holy grail.

"For gettin' Beth away from Anton, and keepin' her safe." I said with all sincerity while looking to his face, so he knew I meant it.

"That was entirely my pleasure, son. She's a lovely lady, lil' Miss." He said, turning to me with a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah she is." I mumbled to myself.

"She got a real soft spot for you too. All she ever went on about when she was with me was getting to her sister and her…male companion." David informed me while chuckling lightly to himself.

"Yeah I shouldna left her." I said, reliving the guilt I had felt when I first came in to the train box car and Beth wasn't there. My face fell into a frown and I stared back out the window.

David knocked me lightly on the shoulder. "It's okay, son. You treat it as a lesson, and you learn never to leave her again." He said cheerfully.

"I won't." I replied firmly.

David waited a few minutes for me to talk more, but I didn't really know how else to thank the man, so I just kept quiet and looked out the window. David decided to break the silence by turning the stereo back up again, and I tried not to groan.

We drove on for another few miles, with David humming and singing to himself, and me thinking about how much he reminded me of Hershel. He was younger than Hershel, and his hair was grey and not white, and he didn't have as many lines on his face. But he had the same wise looking eyes, and friendly smile. I wished that Hershel could have made it out of the prison, so he could be here with all of us. Beth never really spoke about him, but I knew she and Maggie missed him. Heck we all did. Hershel was really the closest thing I had ever had to a proper father figure, and I always wondered what kind of a man I would have become if I was raised by someone like him, and not by someone like my own old man.

Ever since that first time Beth had stood by that grave at the cemetery and thought about her dad, I had been tying myself in knots thinking about what Hershel would say about the relationship that had developed between me and his precious baby girl. It had grown in to so much more now than just a one night stand in a piece of shit cabin. I did really care for her, and it would have meant the world to me to have his approval, or at least his forgiveness.

I looked at David, at his wise and warm blue eyes, and his friendly lips moving along to the song about love, and wondered if he could give me some insight in to a father's thoughts.

"So Gareth, he was your son right?" I called out above the music.

David reached towards the stereo and turned the volume down, and then looked at my face.

"He_ is_ my son." He corrected, not letting the friendliness drop from his lips. I was hoping that Gareth and the others had all wasted away into walkers by now, but I guess I could understand that David would want them to still be alive.

"And you have other kids too, right?" I added. I had heard him talking to Both Beth and Rick about his sons plural.

"I did, I had two other sons. They're gone now. May god rest their souls." He said glancing outside to the clouds like he was speaking to heaven.

"How old were they?" I asked, hoping I wasn't stepping out of line asking about his dead family.

"My youngest boy, Gavin, he was thirteen, and my middle son, Greg, he was eighteen." David replied without showing the least bit of discomfort.

I put my hand to my mouth and started chewing on the side of my nail, a nervous habit I had picked up when I didn't have a cigarette or something else to play with. And I was nervous about the next question.

"So if Greg wanted to be with someone who was twice his age, what would you say?" I half mumbled with my lips pressed against my finger.

David looked at me and let the grin slide up his face and touch his eyes, creasing the skin on his cheeks in the process. His eyes gave me a look of knowing, like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"I think it's a little different when it comes to sons and daughters." He said with a chuckle. He looked back to the road, and continued on in a more serious tone. "But let's just say if I was Hershel." He glanced back to me, letting me know that he knew what I was asking. "I would be mighty happy that my daughter found a good man who cared for her, and I wouldn't be concerned about his age."

I nodded my head, and wondered if Hershel really would feel the same way he did.

"You care for the girl, right?" He added, dipping his head a little so he could look up in to my lowered eyes.

I put my hands together in my lap and studied the rough skin, cuts, grazes and callouses that covered them, while I thought about what I felt for Beth. She was the only thing that kept me going in those weeks after the prison fell. She was everything that was good in my life. She was like sunlight in the winter. She was hope in a world that had none. I actually felt like I would die without her.

"More than I thought I could." I finally replied.

"Then that's all that matters." David said with a grin.

* * *

The Megamart that we drove up to was surrounded by a huge parking lot that was littered with abandoned cars. It was also swarming with the dead. There were so many dead that all their snarls and moans, merged in to a deafening buzz like white noise from an un-tuned television set.

David pulled the truck up on the side of the road, and we all looked out towards the store calculating the risk involved. Glenn jumped down from the back and walked over to my door, and I wound down the window.

"Looks risky." I muttered.

"I reckon there's at least fifty of them out here, and there is probably more inside." Glenn said, scanning his eyes over the horde of walkers.

"The plus is that the dead keep the livin' away. There's prob'ly plenty of supplies in there." I said, calculating how many I could take down with my new bow.

"I don't think the four of us could handle them all." David said while leaning over and scanning the parking lot. I assumed he felt the fourth one of us was Mix. "We should come back tomorrow, with a bigger group." He added.

I looked to Glenn and we both nodded in agreement.

"We're gettin' mighty low on food though." I said, while rubbing my chin thinking about how sick I was of powdered milk and stale cereal.

"There's another place nearby. I've been there before, and it's almost picked clean, but you might find something to keep us going til tomorrow." David suggested.

Glenn and I nodded to each other again, and Glenn jumped back in with Mix. We started the car up and drove away, revving the engine loudly, and hoping most of them would follow the sound of the truck, and be gone by tomorrow.

* * *

The store David was talking about was much smaller, but it did have far fewer dead lurking about. David parked up right by the front, and I got out my Airborne and felt muscles, that I hadn't used in a while, stretch and contort while I drew the string.

I let the arrow fly in to the nearest walker that was dragging its feet so slowly I thought he must have been here since the beginning of the turn. The arrow landed in his chest, and I was glad we didn't stop at the Megamart, because I obviously needed more practice. I asked David and Glenn to leave the other two so I could take a shot at them. The second time I shot the walker the arrow flew an inch over his head.

"Fuck." I grumbled to myself. Glenn chuckled behind me, and I shot him an angry glare over my shoulder.

The third hit home right in between the eyes.

"'bout time." Glenn sniped behind me. I strode over to the walker and pulled out my two arrows, then turned around and wiped the muck from them over Glenn's riot vest.

"Naww man!" He groaned shrugging away from me and staring down at the congealed blood. I sniggered at him and turned back to my targets.

There were two more walkers stumbling around the parking lot who looked like they didn't even realise I was there. I nocked another arrow, drew the string and shot one directly in the eye. Then I nocked the last arrow, drew again and shot the other in the back of the skull. I did miss my Stryker, but the Airborne was so much easier to prep.

I collected the arrows from the corpses, and the one from the ground, and put them back in the quiver and then the four of us went into the store.

As we entered, the doorbell chimed and a walker that was hiding down one of the aisles, stumbled out moaning and reaching for us. I shot that one down with an arrow before it could step out of the aisle.

The store was mostly empty, like David had said. Glenn and David ran through the aisles collecting whatever had been left behind and I went straight for the stockroom. I tried the handle on the door, and it was locked, so I took a step back ready to lunge into it with my boot. Then Mix darted in front of the door and started growling at the small opening below it. I figured there must be dog food in there. I'm sure he was sick of eating stale cereal too.

I shooed Mix out of the way and then kicked my boot into the door near the handle and the door flung open with the handle flying off and clanging to the ground. I stepped in to the store room and a naked dead fucker leapt right out at me and went grabbing for my throat. It was barely more than a skeleton, with its gnarled bones protruding through its grey, sagging skin. Mix grabbed it by the loose skin on its ankle and started pulling it back. I took two steps back and shot it with an arrow, in the centre of its head. Then another female walker stumbled out after him, who was also naked. I wondered what their last moments had been like in there together, and then shot her through the eyeball. She fell on top of her dead partner, and I thought to myself that it wasn't such a bad way to die really.

The stock room was mostly empty, so someone must have got to it before the two lovers locked themselves in there. There was a crate of canned tomatoes though, which I thought would be pretty awful to eat on their own, but better than stale cereal. I pushed the crate out the door and then delved deeper into the stock room. I found a big pallet of toilet paper, and a cardboard carton with 'Always' written on it. I remembered it as being a brand my mom used, so I grabbed it along with a carton of Tampax and I tried to calculate in my head how long it would last all the women back at Terminus.

When I had pushed the supplies to the door, I went back in to look for condoms. I searched high and low, but there were none of them anywhere. Everyone must have decided that the end of the world was approaching and they best start fucking like rabbits. Either that or the dead lovers had used them all up.

I went back into the store and went over to the personal care section and kept my fingers crossed that there would be something left there. The shelves were stripped bare, except for some toothbrushes, and shower caps. I grabbed a few toothbrushes anyway and shoved them in my pockets. I turned to walk away and my foot kicked at something that had fallen below the shelf. I lay down on my front so that I could see what it was. In the shadow all I could make out was the white writing that read '_Trojan'_.

"Yes." I hissed to myself and started reaching my hand, through the dust and cobwebs under the shelf. From beside me, I saw another hand reaching for them too, with fingers creeping across the linoleum like a spider.

I glanced up to see Glenn laying on his front reaching under the shelving just like I was.

"No chance." I said, reaching my hand in further and grabbing around the box and dragging it out. I gloated in the fact that my arms were longer than his.

We both stood up and glared at each other like we were in a western style showdown.

"You gonna share them?" Glenn asked motioning to the pack. I Glanced at it. It was only a twelve pack. That would only last me a week depending on how frisky Beth was feeling.

"No way, man, get your own." I said tucking the pack into the front pocket of my shirt and grinning at him.

Glenn reached under his riot vest and pulled out a familiar looking packet. I almost lost my shit when I saw the gold coloured packaging and realised what it was.

"Marlboro lights." I moaned. They weren't my first choice, but I felt like I could actually kill him for those cigarettes right now.

"Hand 'em over." I demanded reaching my hand out.

"You hand _them_ over." He said motioning to the box in my pocket.

I looked back and forth between the two boxes. This was a choice between sex with Beth and the cool menthol taste of a cigarette. I felt a shudder of bliss run through my body as I thought about having them both together.

"You don't even smoke." I groaned, hating the choice I was going to have to make.

"I know, but I might take it up… If I can't have sex." He smirked at me, and I felt like punching him in the jaw.

"I'll give you one." I offered.

He scoffed at me. "Are you kiddin'? Give me half."

I looked back at the pack. Six condoms, that wouldn't even last a week.

"I'll give you two." I bargained.

"Uh Uh, give me six or no deal."

I cussed under my breath as I ripped the box open and tore off six Trojans for him. I tossed them to the ground by his feet, and he threw me the pack of cigarettes and I ran off looking for a lighter.

* * *

Once we were back at Terminus I helped David and Glenn unpack the truck while I held the stick of heavenly menthol pleasure in my mouth. It was the third one I had that day, and it would have been a lot more if David had of let me smoke in the car.

"They'll give you lung cancer." He assured me.

"Not if a walker eats my lungs first." I retaliated, letting the smoke billow out from my lips and curl up into the air like a fountain of magical fairy dust.

We used one of the trolleys in the storerooms to move the supplies back to the mess hall. I rolled the trolley inside and began unloading it on to a nearby table. I dumped the carton of pads down in the centre of the room and watched as all the woman stopped what they were doing and glared at the label on the box.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of crazed woman tearing at the box desperately and jumping all over me, kissing me and calling me a life saver. I had never realised how much women loved their lady things.

After the box had been torn open, and the mad clawing of female hands had subsided, I took out a few packs for Beth and carried them up stairs.

She was laying on the bed reading a book, with Judith curled up beside her chewing on her necklaces.

I put the packets of pads down on the desk "I had to fight mad women for these." I said pointing to them.

"And I had to fight a mad Glenn for these." I said pulling out the half box of Trojans and placing it on the desk next to the pads.

* * *

I was on watch that day, taking over from two in the afternoon until midnight. I was brought a can of tuna and bottle of ketchup from today's run for my dinner. I ate it sitting on the rooftops watching the ground below, and smoking my cigarettes. I watched Abraham and one of his new buddy's playing cards down below for a few hours, noting how they were both cheating. Then as the night wore on I spotted Jason and Jane, sneaking into a darkened sideway and kissing in the moonlight, and I thought about Beth and how there was only an hour to go before I could curl up beside her and sleep.

My thoughts were disturbed by the sheet metal roofing creaking and I turned around to see Carol had climbed up and was walking towards me, with a big smile on her face like nothing had ever happened. I turned away and scowled to myself.

"What're you doin' here?" I growled when she sat down beside me.

"I'm here to relieve you." She said.

I took out the watch with the broken face, that Rick had given me and looked at the time.

"Still got another hour." I said.

Carol shrugged her shoulders. "I know, but I wanted to talk to you. We never got to finish what we were talking about the other night." She said with a smile completely free of guilt.

"I'm not in the mood Carol I'm still pretty pissed at you." I growled, angrily.

"Pissed at me? For what?" She said with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"For tellin' the whole council like that. Puttin' me on the spot." I reminded her.

"Telling them what?" She sounded like she had no idea what I was talking about.

I glared at her angrily. "That I'm with Beth." I snapped, pissed that she was playing dumb.

Her face fell in shock. "But you're not with Beth, you're with me." She said slowly.

"Stop fuckin' around Carol, I ain't with you and I'm never gonna be." I yelled into her face angrily. She was really creeping me out with the weird way she had been acting lately.

Carol looked around herself, like she had no idea what I was so angry about. "Wait, you can't leave me for her." She said in a pleading voice.

"I can't leave you if I was never with you." I snapped.

"But what about our baby?" She said with a sob.

I looked at her and carefully studied her face, she was weeping and staring at me with wide crazed eyes.

"What?" I murmured, not even sure if I had heard her right.

"Our baby, Sophia." She added.

I scrambled to my feet and took a step away from her, wondering who this crazy lady was, and what she had done with Carol. "Sophia ain't my baby Carol." I told her plainly.

"How could you say that?" She moaned, clamouring to her feet and trying to grab for my hand.

"Cause she ain't. I wasn't even around when she was born" I said, snatching my hand away from her.

"But you…but you tracked her through the woods. You spent days looking for her, and you gave me the rose. The Cherokee rose." Carol moaned, while pressing her hands together like she was praying.

"Not 'cause she was my baby, 'cause I was worried about her. Damn Carol what the fuck am I gonna do with you." I was pacing angrily back and forth, completely lost on how to handle the crazy situation I was in.

"You're going to leave me. They all leave me. Sophia left me four times. And now you're leaving. I'm gonna be all alone." Carol said, falling to her knees and starting to sob uncontrollably.

"Fuck Carol you need a doctor or somethin' I ain't qualified to deal with your bullshit." I growled at her, flicking an angry finger back and forth through the air.

She crawled towards me over the metal roofing and started clawing at my clothes, sobbing and begging me.

I felt like the biggest ass hole shrugging her off and leaving her sobbing into the roof like that, but I was completely lost. I had no idea what to do with her. I needed to go find someone else who could deal with her.

I climbed off the roof and went straight to Rick who was roaming around the front gate.

"You need to get someone up there with Carol." I told him pointing up to the roof.

We both looked up to the roof and saw Carol looking down on us waving happily, with a big smile on her face.

A shiver ran down my spine, like I had just seen a ghost.

"Why, what's up?" Rick said looking back to me.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out if what just happened was even real. When I stopped rubbing my eyes Rick was looking at me waiting for an answer.

"Nothin'." I uttered and then glanced up at Carol, who was still smiling down on me eerily.

"I'm goin' to bed. Think I'm hearin' and seein' things." I said while turning and walking back to the living quarters.

* * *

When I came in to the dim candle lit room, it was filled with the warmth and sweet smell of Beth. It immediately made me forget the tension I felt when I had just been outside with Carol. I rested my Airborne on the side of the desk alongside Beth's Stryker and toed out of my boots. I put them beside the bows and then pulled off my shirts and vest. I thought about taking my jeans off, but I didn't want Beth to think I was pressuring her for sex again, so I just took of my belt instead.

The clanking of the belt must have woken her up, because she sat upright quickly, revealing that she was completely topless under the blanket. My dick quivered a little in my pants at the site of her small pink nipples, looking like cherries on vanilla ice-cream against her pale skin.

"I've been waiting for you." She said with enthusiasm, like she hadn't been sleeping at all.

"Judith, not 'ere tonight?" I asked, while sliding my belt out of the loops, and letting it drop to the floor.

"No. Michonne's got her tonight." She said while throwing back the covers to invite me in, and revealing that she wasn't wearing any panties either.

I groaned at the sight of the candlelight dancing over the smooth white skin of her inner thighs, and the soft golden hair between her legs.

"Take your pants off." She ordered. I ripped my eyes away from her thighs and obeyed, dropping my jeans to the floor, with a shuffling of denim.

"Those things, are nothin' but rags." She commented, pointing to my tattered jeans by my feet. "I'm gonna have to sew them up for you, or maybe you could just get new ones."

"Don't need no new ones." I said kicking them to the side and thinking how cute Beth would look sewing up my pants for me. Like a real sixties housewife. I jumping into the bed beside her, jostling her about and causing the springs to squeak loudly. She let out a cute giggle and then pushed me forcefully off the bed, so I fell on to the mattress on the floor with a grunt. She fell on top of me making me grunt again as her slight form pushed all the air out of my chest. My dick started bobbing up and down as I felt the length of her naked, warm, smooth body pressing against mine.

"You're feeling better, hey?" I asked her, while she was running her mouth all over my chest and neck, sending chills up my spine.

"Much better." She murmured against my skin in between kisses. "You smell like cigarette." She commented sniffing briefly at my hair.

"Found a pack today. Only lights, but they ain't too bad." I wondered if I should tell her that I had given up six chances of safe sex with her in order to get those cigarettes.

"I hate that you smoke, but the smell is kind of a turn on." She said, before running her mouth over my neck, jaw and ear. I started thinking about how much I wanted to hold one in my fingers right now and take a long slow drag, while she ran her mouth over me. Then she started pushing herself into my thigh, forcing her pubic bone up against me and letting me feel how wet she was, and all I could think of was getting inside her.

"Geez girl what's got in to you?" I said as I ran my rough hand over her silk to the touch skin on her back and ass.

"I don't know." She said releasing her teeth from my ear lobe, and moving them towards my mouth. "Don't you like it?"

"Not… that I'm … complainin'…mmm… but what is it…. with women and acting …nuts today?" I said, while she was attacking my mouth with tongue lips and teeth.

"What do you mean?" She murmured between kisses.

"Carols been actin' real weird lately." I said while Beth trailed kisses from my mouth, over my check, down over my jaw and to my neck and then bit lightly on my shoulder. She released her teeth from my flesh and looked up at me.

"I noticed that too." She said, while rubbing her fingers through the hair on my chest. "Think there's somethin' goin' on with her?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea what." I uttered, thinking over the insane conversation we had earlier.

"Maybe you should have a talk with Tyreese tomorrow. He was with her last, maybe he knows what's up with her." Beth suggested wisely.

I nodded in agreement, and wondered what had happened between them two while they were on the road together, and if he ever found out about how she killed Karen. Beth watched me with widening eyes while I thought it over, and then leant into me.

"How 'bout you don't think of Carol right now?" Beth murmured against my ear, while grabbing firmly on to my dick.

She started rubbing her hand up and down the shaft. Then she rubbed her thumb over my knob, and twisted her fingers up over it to meet her thumb, and all thoughts of Carol slipped away.

I put my hand to Beth's shoulder and rolled her on to her back and started returning the kisses to her chests and tits. She moaned when I took her nipple in my mouth and bit down gently on it, before swirling my tongue around it and drawing it to attention. While doing the same to the other tit, I ran my hand down over her hip and to her thigh and drew my hand between her legs, slipping all over the place while trying to get my fingers in to her. It was pretty clear to me she didn't need any foreplay, but I wanted to make her moan using my hand anyway.

"Fuck girl, you're so damn wet." I murmured into her neck, while I rubbed the moisture that was dripping out of her all over my fingers. She moaned in reply as I forced two fingers in to her, pushing through the tight muscles. I let out a groan as she clenched down on them, imagining how it would feel on my dick. I put my thumb to her clit, and brushed over it gently while I pushed my fingers in deeper. When her initial moan had drifted off into a whisper I pressed my thumb in firmer on her clit and moved my fingers in and out of her rubbing upwards towards my thumb.

She squirmed and trembled and squealed and moaned, and I covered her mouth with my own so I could swallow her cries, and save the neighbours from hearing it all.

She was clawing on to my back with one hand and using the other hand to pull down on my elbow and push my fingers in deeper. I kept working her until she arched her back and threw her head back and started convulsing and moaning like a grieving widow. I went to put my other hand to her mouth to try to quieten her, and then took it straight away when I realised it might make her feel like I was overpowering her again.

When she had finished writhing and moaning, she pulled my hand, that was knuckle deep in her, away, and then she pushed my shoulder down so I was on my back. She lifted my hands above my head, interlocking her fingers with mine and then straddled over me.

"I'm gonna fuck _you_ tonight." She rasped, while she slipped down over my gut and wriggled her hips around until my rock hard dick was at the burning hot opening to her pussy.

"You gotta filthy…uhh" I groaned as she slid down taking me inside her fully, letting me feel the clenching of her muscles as I forced my way through.

"If you're gonna be like this every night, I can handle you actin' crazy every now and then." I uttered when I had recovered from the intense sensation of her hot, wet and tight on my dick.

She bent her head down to kiss me on the mouth, and I pushed her back away from me when I realised we had forgotten something.

"Condom." I hissed, disappointed we had to use one.

She let out a groan, and then slid off me, stood up and walked over towards the desk, with her wet thighs glistening in the candle light. She pulled the box out of the drawer and ripped one off and threw it over to me.

I tore the pack open with my teeth, and pulled out the lubricated rubber disk and placed it on the head of my cock. I cussed under my breath wishing it had been a large pack that I had found, and then wrestled with my dick trying to roll it down and force my cock inside it.

It felt like someone was trying to strangle my dick with cling wrap, and I thought about how good it felt to feel Beth's warmth and wetness. The bonus was that it would probably help take away some of the sensitivity and that would mean I could last longer. It seemed like Beth would be wanting to pull an all-nighter tonight.

She climbed back on top of me and slid back on and began rolling her hips to the front and to the back, with her hands pressed down on my shoulders and her neck crooked down so she could kiss me. I was flicking my tongue up wildly trying to catch hers as she moved her head back and forth gently with the rocking of her hips. I was trying to find a place for my hands, grabbing on her thighs and her ass and her tits. I ended up putting my hands under her arms and pulling down on her shoulders as I thrusted up into her.

Beth was doing most of the work, rolling her hips around and bouncing up and down on me, but I would have to take over every time an orgasm would catch her and she would arch her back and throw her head in the air and moan. I would pound up in to her while she rode the wave, and then chuckle at her when she would finish and look down at me like I was chocolate pudding, licking her lips and pressing her teeth into them ever so gently. I was aware that we were being far too loud, for the paper thin walls, but no-one was banging on them yet, so they were either fast asleep, or enjoying the performance.

When I felt myself reaching the end, I went to pull her off me, and then remembered I was wearing the Trojan. I let myself explode inside her, letting out a long groan of relief. I was enjoying the fact that I could give her those last few thrusts while my dick throbbed inside of her and she could clenched down on it, and experience the last moments of pleasure we had lost before. I was panting heavily and squeezing my eyes shut, and when I opened them again Beth was looking down on me with her brows pressed together like she was about to cry.

"Is it over?" She said between huffs and puffs.

"Yep." I grunted, while trying to catch my breath.

She rolled off me and lay on the mattress next to me and continued to huff and puff, her tits rising and falling and glistening with a mixture of her sweat and my own.

I pulled the condom off and tied it in a knot then looked around for somewhere to dispose of it. There were no bins, so I ended up shoving it in the pocket of my jeans, and hoped I would remember to get rid of it in the morning.

When I went to lay back next to her she was pouting at me and looking at me with big disappointed doe eyes.

"What? No good?" I asked her.

She grinned at me and started rubbing her fingers through the sweat covered hairs on my chest.

"It was great, but I wasn't done yet." She growled before pushing me on my shoulders again so I went to my back and then she crawled on top of me again and started kissing my neck.

"Are you kiddin'? I lost count of how many times you came." I told her while rubbing along her bare back.

"I want more." She whispered into my ear, and then bit down on my ear lobe.

"I ain't eighteen no more. I needs my rest." I told her while I stretched my neck out allowing her better access.

I thought that there was no way in hell I could go again so soon, I would need at least a few hours rest, but as she ran her tongue over my throat and chest, my dick started dancing around again, responding to his call of duty.

_Well Daryl, you wanted an eighteen year old girl, now you gotta fuck like an eighteen year old._

So I did fuck her like an eighteen year old.

I grabbed her around the waist and flipped her on to her back. "Stay there." I ordered her, before grabbing the pack of condoms and tossing them to the side of the mattress. I went to my knees and tucked my arms under her thighs and dragged her hips in closer to me. Then laying on my front with my hard dick pressing into the floor I put my mouth straight to her swollen pussy and started twirling my tongue in between her lips, flicking back and forth from her clit to her sweet tasting opening. She cried out and moaned before reaching up and grabbing me by the back of my head and holding me firmly in place while she rocked her hips to and fro meeting with my tongue rolls. I moved my mouth upwards so I could take her clit between my lips and I pressed them down around it and suckled on it gently until she was screaming into her own hand and her thighs were shaking against my ears. I drew back from her trembling legs and opened another condom and rolled it over my granite hard cock that was already starting to throb again. Then I went to my knees, pushed her thighs apart and slipped straight in to her and started pounding away, holding her legs by the knees out to the side so I could get deep inside her. I fucked her missionary for a good twenty minutes until she was whimpering weakly and I had filled another bag. I snapped that one off, tied it up and stuffed it into my pocket with the other one.

I went to lay down beside her in a sweating panting mess and she was _still_ rubbing all over me and begging for more, so I slapped my dick around for a bit, with my eye on her swollen, wet, pink pussy. When it was hard again I slipped on another condom, rolled her over and pulled her ass up and gave it to her from behind, while she moaned in to the pillow.

I was fucking like a champion. Merle would have been so proud of me. I gave myself a mental high five as I pounded my hips against her ass, and rolled my eyes up to the skylight in the ceiling and thanked whatever powers there were for giving me the strength to fuck on. That third time I could barely even groan as I came. I was so weak I just collapsed on top of her, and nearly suffocated her in the pillow. She wriggled out from under me and laughed at me, while I panted and puffed and struggled to catch my breath.

I weakly drew my legs up and pulled off the condom, letting it flick off me with a wet snap. I managed to roll over and tie the bag up and then drag myself to my pants and put it in the pocket with the other two. Then I collapsed on the floor beside my pants completely exhausted.

Beth went to her hands and knees and crawled over to me, like a tiger hunting prey. She licked her lips like she was about to eat me. I almost started crying knowing what she was going to ask me. I looked down at my beaten and battered dick and knew there was no chance.

"I fucked you three times." I groaned. "I can't do it anymore Beth, I'm too old." I told her rubbing my eyes and trying not to cry like a baby.

She crawled over me and lay on top of me with her chin on my chest.

"Okay, I'm sorry, _old man_." She said with a grin.

I laughed at her. Partly because she was calling me an old man, and partly because I was relieved she was going to leave me alone.

She sat up and grabbed me by my hands and started pulling me.

"Come back to bed, you can't sleep on the floor." She told me.

I stumbled to my feet, bleary eyed, and then collapsed on the mattress face first. Beth slipped in beside me and pulled the covers over the pair of us. She tucked herself in to me and pulled my arm over her shoulder. I readjusted myself so I was spooning her, and then closed my eyes and sighed peacefully, ready to pass the fuck out.

"You did a real good job tonight, Mr Dixon." She whispered.

"Thanks, Miss Greene. You weren't too bad yourself." I said opening one eye and smiling into the back of her head.

I could feel myself drifting off into the bliss of much needed sleep. Then Beth started wriggling around and pushing her ass in to me.

_Fuck!_

I kept my eyes shut and tried to count sheep while she tossed and turned and grunted and sighed beside me. I knew there was no chance I was sleeping until she did, so I slipped my magic wands inside her and finger banged her until she passed out.

* * *

We must have slept late that morning because when I woke up, the room was real bright, and I could hear people going about their business outside. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and Beth rolled over to face me while I yawned and stretched. My back was aching from last night's strenuous activities, and my dick was probably going to need a week long vacation.

"Get enough sleep?" I asked her with a suggestive raise of my eyebrows, hinting to her nymphomaniac behaviour last night.

"Yeah, but I think you broke me." She said reaching down under the covers and then lifting them up and looking down. She pulled the covers down and clutched them to her chest, with her eyes growing wide.

"Oh shit." She mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked, watching her blue eyes widen.

She jumped out of bed and pulled on her panties and jeans and then her sweater without a bra or shirt. Then she grabbed for one of the packets of pads that were sitting on the desk, and backed towards the door.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." She muttered, before ducking out the door, and closing it behind her.

I fell back down on the pillow, and sighed in relief, coming to realisation of what all her craziness had been about over the past couple of days, and hoping this would also mean my dick got the week long break it deserved.

"Thank fuck for that." I muttered to myself.

* * *

The Megamart was still crawling with walkers, although it looked like some of them had moved on. Glenn, David, Mix and I ended up taking Michonne, Tyreese, Abraham and his new pal Dean along for the ride. We had to take two cars to accommodate the bodies and the supplies we were hoping to bring in. We pulled up on the outskirts of the parking lot, and I took out my Airborne and nocked an arrow.

I could sense Glenn behind me watching and waiting to taunt me.

"Watch this." I said, drawing the string.

I let five arrows fly, nocking and releasing each one swiftly after each shot hit. Five walkers caught an arrow direct in the eye, before my quiver was empty.

I turned my head to Glenn grinning proudly, and he grinned back.

"Okay, let's go Robin Hood." Michonne teased from the side of me, and then lead the charge into the crowd of walkers with her Katana held high.

I had my Busse unsheathed, and took to it slamming it down into walker skulls, getting blood and brain all up my arm, and feeling good about getting back in to it after being at rest for so long. Tyreese was on one side of me smashing in skulls with his hammer, and Glenn was hacking his way around with a Machete. Abraham was taking up the rear swinging the butcher's meat cleaver down into the heads of walkers that were slipping by us. Dean was back there assisting Abraham slashing away at the walkers with a combat knife, and David was trailing behind us looking thankful that there was nothing left for him. When all the walkers were down, I went back around and collected my arrows and put them back in my quiver.

We all started yelling and banging on the windows of the store trying to get any dead inside to come forward. Another dozen or so walkers, threw themselves up against the glass, pushing their rotting lips up against it and smearing gunk all over it, while they moaned and scratched at the glass with their blunt nails.

Tyreese and I opened the doors and they all came stumbling out. We took them out with a flurry of slashes and bludgeons and then headed on in to the store. I had been right about no one wanting to take on the walkers and the shelves were stacked high as if the end of the world had never happened. Only difference was the store stank of rotting produce, and rotting corpses.

There were still a few straggling walkers roaming up and down the aisles so Tyreese and I wandered through them taking them out. I saw this as my opportunity to ask him about Carol.

"How long were you and Carol out there together for? Before you got to Terminus?" I asked, holding my Busse out and letting a dead guy walk straight into it skewering himself in the eye.

"Must have been at least a week, maybe longer." He replied before lifting his hammer and slamming it down into a walkers skull a few times until the skull exploded and a soup of black and brown gunk poured out.

"Anything happen to you guys while you were out there?"

Tyreese stopped in his tracks for a few seconds and looked at me like he wanted to say something. Then he turned his eyes back to his boots and continued pacing the aisle.

"The usual bad shit." He said with a shrug.

"You notice she's been actin' a bit weird lately?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah I noticed." He said glumly. A walker stumbled out from the aisle and Tyreese took him out with a wide hammer swing.

"It wasn't just me, Judith and Carol out there." He continued while flinging muck of his hammer and on to the linoleum floor.

"No? Who else you get out with?" I asked.

Tyreese lowered his eyes and started rubbing the hair on his chin.

"I had Mika and Lizzie with me too." He muttered.

I took out a walker that was snarling behind me and then turned back to him.

"They die?" I asked.

Tyreese glanced up. "Yep." He replied, before continuing on down the aisle.

"Did Carol have to put them down?" I asked. That might explain a little why she was acting so crazy.

"She had to do more than just that." Tyreese said shaking his head and looking glum. "She had to." He repeated.

"What did she do?"

"It don't matter. But I think it really screwed with her. Then when we came to Terminus and they threw us in that container, they took Judith off us. We had no idea what they were doing to her, we didn't know she was gonna be safe. I think that really pushed her over the edge you know, wonderin' what was happenin' to her. I mean, even after she saw she was okay, I don't think it really sunk in."

I felt really bad now about leaving her on the roof last night. She had lost four little girls that she had been a mother to, and now she was dealing with her grief in a really messed up way. If I had have been a better friend I would have taken care of her instead of pushing her away.

Tyreese and I stood looking at each other for a few moments, wordlessly worrying about Carol together.

"I'll talk to her when I get back." I finally said breaking the silence.

* * *

When we had cleared the aisles Tyreese and I went off on our own path. I went straight to the personal care section hoping to get some more condoms, and wondering if they would sell Viagra here so I might be able to keep up with Beth.

The shelves had been cleared some, but there were still a few boxes left over. I went to swipe my arm over the shelf and push them into a plastic bag before I heard Mix growling and snarling. Knowing what that snarl was, I followed the sound to see Tyreese about to open a door into a store room, with Mix sneering at it.

"Wait!" I called, jogging towards him.

He looked towards me as he turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Tangled dark hair and rotting teeth came slipping through the gap and landed straight on Tyreese's hand. Tyreese let out a shriek and then smashed the walkers head in with his hammer. He held his hand up and I could see distinct bite marks and blood seeping out of the wound. Tyreese was staring at his hand with a look of disbelieving terror on his face.

"Michonne! Get Tyreese's hand!" I called out to her. Michonne took a look at the hand Tyreese was holding up and came racing towards him with her Katana held up ready to cut it off. Then another rotting body came stumbling out of the storeroom behind Tyreese.

Michonne, Tyreese and I all wailed as the walkers gnashing jaws landed on Tyreese's shoulder and tore away at skin and flesh.

* * *

**AN: Haha, that title was just a teaser, referring to what Carol said to Daryl. Hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the lack of pregnancy. They are just not ready for that yet. I hope nothing was too full on either; the sex, violence or 'adult issues'. And I hope you can all forgive me for what I'm doing to poor Tyreese :(**

**I've finally managed to read some of the other Bethyl fanfics out there and some of them are amazing! I think the main difference between them and my own is that I tend to write how I see it, not how I feel it. So it's very dialogue and action heavy. Other fics seem to focus a lot on inner dialogue and descriptions etc. Do you guys like that? I can try to put more of that in if you like? Or I can just get down to the story and forget about all the literary techniques. I did try that a little with this chapter, but I got bored lol**

**PS. I'm really tired while editing this, so I'll probably read it tomorrow and kick myself for posting it, like I often do.**


	21. Left Behind

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter IX**

**AN: I have to apologise, the next two chapters are rather dull. Not much action and no sex. Half of the first chapter is about doing laundry... But consider it the calm before the storm, because the last two chapters are intense!**

**Song is 'Don't just stand by my grave and weep' written by Mary Elizabeth Frye.**

* * *

**Left Behind**

After Daryl had left to get the cars ready for the run, I went to collect Judith off Michonne so she could join him. She wasn't in her own room, but I could hear Judith's babbles down the corridor so I followed them back to Rick's room.

When I first walked in I felt like I had entered into some kind of romance movie. Rick and Michonne were both lying on the tiny cot bed together, shoulder to shoulder with both their knees bent into the air and touching. Michonne's body was turned ever so slightly into Ricks, and I noticed Rick's small toe brushing gently against Michonne's bare feet. They looked just like college sweethearts lying in their dorm room, except that Rick had Judith sitting on his belly, leaning back against his legs. The both of them were talking to her and smiling and laughing. They looked irresistibly sweet together. A perfect little family.

They saw me lurking in the doorway with a goofy smile on my face and Michonne quickly rolled out of bed and stood to attention like I had caught them doing something wrong.

"I was just playing with Judith." She spluttered out.

"I'll leave you to it." I said with a quirk of my eyebrow.

I walked back down the hallway with that same goofy grin on my face. It seemed love was in the air. Our family was together, we were safe, and Daryl and the others were soon to go and bring back plenty of supplies. It seemed like today just couldn't get any better.

When I had managed to wipe the smirk of my face, I went back downstairs to get some breakfast in the mess hall. A couple of women were gossiping to each other by the door to the kitchen, when they saw me walk in, they smiled to each other and put their heads down. They were talking about me no doubt, and I could guess what they were saying. I blushed thinking about all the cussing and praises to God that were coming out of my mouth last night, and then decided I would eat my breakfast outside in the sunshine were less people could watch me, and speculate about what happened in my bedroom.

While Daryl was out, and Rick had Judith, I decided I would sort out the sheets I had made a mess of this morning. I went into the room and I ripped them off the mattress and bundled them up with some of my own clothes and Daryl's long sleeve shirt that he had left behind. I decided I would wash both sets of sheets and pillowcases since I was doing a load anyway.

When I stripped the cot bed, it seemed like something was missing. I checked under the pillow, and then back under the mattress and then under the bed. That stupid note I had written before with all the love hearts on it had disappeared. I didn't remember moving it from under my pillow, so maybe it had tumbled out when I was shifting around in bed. I spent a few minutes looking around the room for it. It was embarrassing enough for Daryl to see it. But if anyone else found it, they would definitely think I was too immature for Daryl. When I searched everywhere it could possibly be I figured Daryl must have already disposed of it, not wanting to be embarrassed by it either.

After I had wrapped everything up in the cleaner sheet, and left it by the laundry table, I went out to the well pump to fill the wash tub with water. The water from the well had been incredibly icy that morning. I had to boil up some of the water in the kitchen and add it to the wash tub so that my hands didn't freeze, and also so the soap suds could actually work into the material.

Nobody seemed to pay much attention to me when I carried the laundry down to the wash station. I had the feeling maybe they were deliberately trying to avoid eye contact with me after what they may have heard last night. I blushed at the thought of it. Daryl's hard muscular body pressed against mine, panting and sweating, and doing everything in its power to make me happy. The sex last night had been absolutely amazing. Daryl had surprised me, and I think himself, with the way he performed. I wondered if it would be too much to ask for _four_ times next time we had the opportunity.

The mousy-brown haired Jane had been at the laundry station scrubbing some of her own clothes when I got back there. She managed a weak smile for me and then went back to her task, scrubbing at her much newer and cuter clothing than mine.

I had washed Daryl's shirt first and immediately regretted it when I saw the state it left the water in. It was brown when I put it into the water and came out a mustard colour when I had finished scrubbing it. That man really loved his own filth. I was glad he had bothered to wash up before coming to bed last night, even though I found dirty Daryl a little sexy. Just a little.

When I had finished scrubbing everything, I went to hang it out in the sunshine, hoping it would all be dry by tonight. Jane followed me over with her own basket of washing and started hanging it out beside mine.

"Hey." She called to me glancing over. She was the first person other than Michonne to speak to me all morning.

"Hey, Jane." I replied cheerfully.

She watched me for a few moments while I pegged my clothes up and then edged her way over to me.

"Sooo." She sang enquiringly

"Sooo?" I echoed.

"Umm." She mumbled with a roll of her eyes, before shifting closer to me. "I came to bed late last night and I heard somethin'."

My face flushed with heat as I realised what she was telling me.

"Oh God, did you hear us?" I asked pushing my hot throbbing face into the cool damp fabric of the sheet.

"Yeah." She grinned at my embarrassment. "You were havin' sex right?"

I was a little taken back by her abruptness, but I figured this was kind of what girls our age talked about. Boys and stuff.

"What were _you_ doin' comin' in that late?" I asked trying to play her little game of what naughty thing did you do last night.

Jane looked away from me and blushed a little herself. "I was with Jason." She whispered.

"What were you doin?" I enquired with a smirk.

"Nothin' like what you were doin'."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded my head like I didn't believe her, but I did. She seemed like the demure type.

"Do you think Jason is cute?" She asked ducking her head around her pink tee.

"Yeah, he's real cute." I said, thinking about the blue eyed blonde haired boy. He was definitely attractive, but he was sweet and soft and fine boned. Not really the kind of guy I was interested in.

"But much younger than who you would go for right?" Jane continued.

"I guess." I said with a shrug. Even though every guy I had ever crushed on had been close to my own age, except for Daryl.

"Daryl is really cute too." She said with an eyebrow raise.

I smiled to myself. "Don't I know it."

"I mean he has the most gorgeous blue eyes, and he's so rough and intense, and his shoulders are so broad and strong and his biceps oh my god..." Jane started rambling whimsically, like a…well like a teenage girl.

"Jane, that's _my_ man you're talking about." I interrupted with a grin on my face.

"Yeah sorry." She said with a casual shrug and we both giggled together like we were back in school.

"Do you have to have sex with a boy…you know, to make him like you?" Jane asked in a more serious tone.

"No you most certainly do not." I replied quickly. "Why? Did Jason try to do something you didn't like?"

Jane shook her head gently. "No, he's real sweet, but I don't _want_ him to do anything. I don't think I want to have sex...for a while anyway."

"Well it's your body Jane, so you can choose to do with it what you like, and don't let anyone pressure you in to doing something you don't." I advised her in the most mature sounding tone I could manage, while hoping that a girl like Jane could have a choice in a world like this.

"But he will still like me if I don't, right?"

"He's a fool if he doesn't."

We shared a smile as I pegged up my last piece of washing and then collected the washing basket ready to take it back to the laundry area.

"It sounds like it hurts anyway." Jane mumbled to me as I walked past.

I stopped in my tracks and spoke to her over my shoulder "Oh no Jane, it didn't hurt." I said with a wink.

Her eyebrows raised and her jaw dropped while she studied my face. Then her lips turned into a smile and we both giggled together.

I swung the basket on to my hip and then started walking off with a wide grin still pasted on my face.

"You shouldn't bring him in 'ere. He's been bit." I heard an angry voice say from between two of the red brick buildings.

I stepped to the side so I could see who was talking. I saw Abraham and Dean storming down the path glaring angrily at their feet and behind them I saw Daryl being dragged under Tyreese's hulking frame. He was sweating and panting, and covered in blood.

The basket slipped from my fingers as my blood ran cold and every part of my body went numb.

* * *

As I raced towards them I saw that it was actually Daryl who was supporting Tyreese, with Glenn on the other side of him. Tyreese's shoulder was covered by what looked like a tattered shirt, and it was soaked red in blood. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I realised Daryl was okay, and a wave of guilt when I realised Tyreese was not.

"We weren't gonna leave 'im out there to die alone." Daryl snarled angrily at Dean. "We look after our own."

"Well don't come crying to me when he turns and tears shreds off everyone here." Dean sniped back, before storming off.

"You best keep him away from the others. Take him to the infirmary or somethin'." Abraham suggested. "I got to go see Rosita, she'll be worried about me when she hears." Abraham nodded towards Tyreese in way of sympathy and then took off.

I let my wobbly legs carry me over to Daryl, Glenn and Tyreese, not sure what I should do or say to him. Darryl gave me a concerned frown as he walked past me and headed to the brick building next door to the living quarters.

They took him upstairs to the infirmary and lay him back on one of the three beds. Glenn shook Tyreese's hand firmly and held his gaze for a few moments. Before taking a few steps back from him.

"I got to go get Sasha." He said quietly before walking out the door, glancing at Tyreese once more before disappearing.

I dragged one of the cot beds closer to Tyreese and sat down on it and held Tyreese's hand. Daryl lingered by the doorway with his fingers tracing over his sheathed knife. I hoped he wouldn't have to use it while I was there.

"How you feelin'?" I asked, taking in his sweaty and grey looking appearance.

"Feverish." He replied wiping the sweat from his brow. "But not too bad."

"How long do you think he's got?" I asked turning my head towards Daryl.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Hard to say, was bit twice, so might be quicker than usual. Who knows?"

"Is there anythin' I can do for you?" I asked squeezing Tyreese's hot clammy hand firmly.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind, you could sing me a song." He asked in an unusually cheerful voice.

"Sure, what do you want me to sing?"

"Do you know _'Dock of the Bay' _by Ottis Redding?"

It sounded familiar, but I wasn't too sure I knew it.

"Why don't you sing a bit, and I'll see if it rings a bell." I suggested.

Tyreese grinned widely and then started shifting his shoulders to a beat I couldn't hear, while he rested against the pillow.

Sittin' in the morning sun  
I'll be sittin' when the evening comes  
Watching the ships roll in  
Then I watch them roll away again, yeah

I picked up on the words and the rhythm and joined in with him, and shared his smile.

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay  
Watchin' the tide roll away  
I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay  
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia  
Headed for the Frisco Bay  
'Cause I've had nothing to live for  
And look like nothing's gonna come my way

I frowned to myself while I sang the two last lines and wondered if that was how Tyreese felt, and if that was why he chose this song. Tyreese kept smiling and singing cheerfully with a big grin on his face, clicking his fingers and rubbing his shoulders into the pillow. I stopped singing and tried to force a smile on my face, but I think it just came out as grimace.

So, I'm just gon' sit on the dock of the bay  
Watchin' the tide roll away  
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay  
Wastin' time

He stopped singing and smiled at me warmly. "I love that song." He told me looking up to the skylight with joy in his eyes.

"Sasha is gonna miss you." I said sadly, thinking it was right to remind him that he _did_ have something to live for, but also wrong as he wouldn't live either way.

"I know she will, but she has Bob to keep her company now, I can't be babying her forever." He chuckled lightly to himself. "I really can't."

"Do you miss Karen?" I asked, thinking maybe reminding him of the people he would join would be better than reminded him of the people he was leaving behind.

"Every day." He said with a nod of his head.

His eyes looked past my shoulder to Daryl who was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his body and looking morose.

"I know it was Carol who killed Karen." He said softly.

I glanced back and forth between Daryl and Tyreese astonished. That was the first I had heard of it.

"And she killed Lizzie too." Tyreese added. Daryl had been nodding his head up and down slowly but stopped and glared at Tyreese when he spoke of Lizzie.

"She was never bit, was she?"

Tyreese shook his head.

"Nope. Lizzie wasn't right. She thought that when we die, we would come back as walkers and live forever, and that would be a _good_ thing. She killed little Mika, to give her eternal life, and she would have killed Judith too. She would have been dangerous."

Daryl shifted uncomfortably on the door, and studied his feet. I just stared at them both with my mouth wide open absorbing the tale Tyreese was telling.

"Carol does the tough jobs." Daryl grunted.

Tyreese nodded. "She does. And she'll do anything to protect the ones she loves. Anything. I don't know if that's the best character trait for someone to have who isn't stable in the mind." Tyreese said tapping himself on his temple.

Daryl pulled his lower lip under his teeth and chewed on the side of it thoughtfully.

"I'll take care of her." He said with a nod of his head.

It was at that time that Sasha came bursting through the door almost knocking Daryl over and leapt straight in to the small bed and straight into Tyreese's open arms. Bob entered slowly behind her with his face set in stone and his neck muscles bulging in tension.

I got up and went to Daryl pulling him out the door so we could leave them alone. As we left Daryl pointed to the knife at Bob's hip.

"You'll use that when the time comes." Daryl told him.

"I will." Bob replied with a nod of his head then he turned and shut the door after us.

We started walking out past the conference room and the armoury and towards the staircase. Before we could make it there, I grabbed Daryl by his arm and pushed him up against the wall and kissed him forcefully on the lips. Then I wrapped my arms around him and pushed my head into his chest.

"I thought you had been bitten." I mumbled trying to hold back a sob.

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed me on my forehead.

"I ain't gonna let that happen. I've got too much to live for." He murmured with his lips brushing gently against me

* * *

Everyone was in a miserable mood that night. I didn't even bother with dinner. I went up to my room and wrote for a bit and then changed in to some track pants and tried to get some sleep. My sheets were still damp by nightfall so I slept straight on the bare mattress. I tossed and turned for a while trying to get to sleep, I kept thinking of Tyreese lying in that cot bed, and the horrid thing Sasha was going to have to do.

Daryl came to bed after midnight with icy cold skin and hair smelling of tobacco. When he had undressed and crawled in under the covers behind me I asked him about Carol.

"Did you talk to her?"

"I went to her room, but she didn't want to talk. She was real upset 'bout Tyreese. They got close while they were out together. I'll talk to her tomorrow when he's…gone."

"Are you okay?" I whispered squeezing his hand.

"I will be." He murmured, tightening his grip around my middle.

We didn't say another word to each other, he just held me all night.

* * *

When I woke up I was alone on the mattress. I got up and left the room not bothering to change out of my sweatpants. I made a quick visit to the bathroom and then went looking for Daryl. I found him just outside the gates with Rick and Bob. They were standing by a mountain of dirt and I knew they had got up early to dig a grave for Tyreese.

I came up behind Daryl and wrapped my arms around him.

"Is he gone?" I asked.

"Yeah." Daryl mumbled. "David's puttin' together a few words to say, everyone's gonna meet here after breakfast."

I gave Daryl a squeeze of comfort, and then left him there while I went to find Judith and get some comfort of my own.

All of the survivors at Terminus came to say goodbye to Tyreese, except for Dean and Noel who were on watch, and Carol who wouldn't even answer the door. Even Mix lay by the side of the grave with his head tucked between his front paws like he was in mourning.

We all stood by as David came into the circle of living bodies, surrounding Tyreese's still body in the shallow grave, wrapped in a blood stained white sheet. David was carrying several planks of wood in his arms. He forced one of the planks into the ground and I realised it was a makeshift cross, nailed together crudely and with _'Tyreese'_ scrawled over it in black marker pen. He stepped to the side and pushed another cross into the ground. That one had 'Hershel' scrawled over it.

I felt Maggies hand brush mine and I took it in my hand and squeezed it. I reached my other hand towards Daryl's that was folded in his arms across his chest and pulled it down beside him interlocking his fingers with my own. I smiled up at him, but Daryl kept staring ahead at the crosses.

"Friends and Family, we gather here today to say goodbye to a man who holds a special place in our hearts, Tyreese. As we stand here we do not merely say goodbye to the beloved brother and friend, that he was, but also to the many that we have lost along the way. Brothers, sisters, Sons, Daughters, mothers and fathers. Some of them we did not get the chance to say goodbye to previously. We take this time now to keep them in your thoughts and in our hearts, as we send our words to heaven and tell them that one day, when the time is right, we will see you again."

I could feel a tear slip from my eye and I went to pull my hand up to wipe it away, but Daryl reached over and wiped it away for me with his dirt covered, calloused thumb.

When David had finished with his Eulogy, Sasha started telling us a stories of when her and Tyreese were young. I seemed she would always get him in trouble for the things that she had done. She told us about the first time Tyreese broke his arm. She had been stuck up a tree and too scared of falling to get back down, Tyreese climbed up after her and a branch snapped and he fell down. She had got down all by herself after that. She told us a few other stories of the shenanigans they got up to from when they were kids right up until the thanksgiving before the turn. She was smiling while telling her stories but tears were still running down her face.

When she was finished David looked to me and Maggie and asked if we wanted to say anything about our father.

"Just that I love him." Maggie said with a sob, and Glenn pulled her in to his embrace.

David's eyes turned to me, and I decided I would sing a song for the both of them.

Do not stand at my grave and weep  
I am not there I do not sleep  
When you waken in the morning's hush  
I am the swift uplifting rush

I am a thousand winds that blow  
I am the diamond glints on snow  
I am the sunlight on ripened grain  
I am the gentle autumn rain

Gentle birds in circling flight  
I am the soft star that shines at night  
Oh do not stand at my grave and cry  
I am not there, I did not die...

I am a thousand winds that blow  
I am the diamond glints on snow  
I am the sunlight on ripened grain  
I am the gentle autumn rain

When I was finished. Maggie leant over and kissed me on the cheek, and Daryl smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

"We give these men unto you our lord. Amen" David finished.

"Amen." We all echoed. Even Daryl.

* * *

We went back to the mess hall after and had a drink of hot milk. It was the closest thing to coffee we had on offer. Daryl grumbled about needing alcohol, and suggested we get in the car and drive back to the moonshine still, but Rick talked him out of it. I didn't think I wanted to see a drunk and depressed Daryl again either.

As the day wore on we got merry again anyway. Daryl and Glenn tried playing a game of table tennis with a screwed up piece of paper seeing as there were no balls, and we chuckled at them as they dove and lunged all over the place. Glenn clearly won the game, but Daryl declared he was the winner boastfully, while flexing his biceps.

After Daryl, Glenn had a game with Carl, and then Carl had a game with Jane. I couldn't help but notice Carl's goofy grin when he looked at Janes flushed face as she bobbed and lunged and weaved. I hoped he wasn't going to have his heart broken by another taken woman.

The laughing and jesting was interrupted by a frantic David who came racing in. By the look of his face we thought there was a herd of walkers approaching, but what he told us was far worse.

"What is it?" Rick asked him studying his worried face.

David hesitated for a second. "It's Gareth and the others." He finally said.

"What about them?" Rick asked with concern creasing his brow.

"They're gone."

"Whattaya mean they're gone?" Daryl called out angrily from behind me.

"There's no one there, the car is empty." David clarified.

"How do you even know that? What were _you _doing there?" Rick asked him accusingly.

"It wasn't me." David declared.

"You've been askin' to release 'em." Rick growled while stepping towards David angrily.

"I know I did, but I respect your judgement, I wouldn't release them without your blessing." David looked down to his clasped hands. "but…."

"but what?" Rick spat furiously.

"Well I couldn't stand that they were in there starving, just like before. I couldn't have them eating one another."

"You were feeding them?" Rick half shouted in disbelief. "We barely have enough food for ourselves!"

"I had to." David said flinching away from Rick's angry yells. "It was inhumane what you were doing to them, locking them away like animals and letting them starve, and I used my own supplies anyway."

"They are animals." Daryl piped in snarling over my shoulder.

"They were just trying to survive in a harsh world." David pleaded.

"Yeah and we were gettin' pay back for lockin' us away and tryna eat us." Daryl growled , pointing his finger angrily at David.

David's pleading face changed to a more stern and serious one "And what is the more dire need? Revenge or survival?"

Daryl cussed under his breath and then started pacing the floor angrily, glaring at David like he was going to tear him to shreds. Rick held his hands up in between Daryl and David, as fearful as I was that Daryl was ready to pounce.

"Okay, if you didn't let them out, then who did?" He said scanning around at the group in the hall who were watching the display.

"Well, a few times I went down there, and that lady, Carol. She was talking to them through the door."

"Carol…" I repeated glancing at Daryl.

"She had built up some kind of friendship with that guy you put in there. The African American fellow." David said.

"Anton? So he is still alive." I wailed.

"Last I checked he was. Like I said, I fed them so they wouldn't have to do that again."

"Are you tryna say that Carol, let them all go?" Rick said with his eyebrows almost reaching his hairline.

"Carol ain't like that. She's not stupid." Maggie said shaking her head.

Daryl and I both looked at each other knowing that Carol was nothing like how she used to be.

"I'm gonna go check her room." Daryl blurted out while darting out of the room.

* * *

**AN: A bit of Richonne thrown in there for you ;) Double update to make up for the dullness.**


	22. Carolina

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter X**

**Carolina**

I raced up the stairs taking them two at a time and turned into the northern corridor. I went into the first door on the left that was Carol's room expecting it to be empty, and it was. Not only was Carol not in it, but there wasn't a single personal item left in there.

Rick came jogging through the door after me, stopping himself mid step with his hands on either side of the frame, and started scanning the room.

"She planned it." I muttered to him.

I paced back and forth through the empty room, while my chest heaved and my body tensed with frustration and rage. I needed to release the anger somehow so I grabbed on to chair that was pushed under the desk and threw it against the plasterboard sheeting. The chair tore through the board, stopping when the base of the seat caught on the timber frame. I clenched my fists and made an effort to control my heavy breathing as I watched the small black wheels roll to a stop.

* * *

I knew that she had gone willingly with the Termites, but I also knew she wasn't right in the head, so I went back down to the mess hall and grabbed my Airborne, checked my Busse was sharp and then went out to track her down.

My first stop was the box car we had left the Termites in. I opened the door as far as possible so I could see what traces had been left behind in the darkness. The shitting bins were half filled and the car reeked something awful. There were also empty cans spread all over the place. As much as I had warmed to David, I cursed him for keeping them alive. A small metallic object glinting in one of the corners of the car caught my attention. It was the broken, rusted and blunted steak knife Beth had given to the Termites to kill Anton, and there wasn't a spot of blood on it.

I threw the piece of shit knife at the wall and then laid some boots in to the dent it left behind. It was bad enough that Carol was out of her mind and with cannibals, but she was also with a motherfucking rapist as well.

I was growling and cussing and close to breaking my leg on the metal wall when Rick jumped up in to the car.

"There are weapons gone too." He said urgently.

"Fuck." I cursed, rubbing my arms over my head in frustration.

"I gotta go after her Rick, I gotta get her back." I declared while pacing towards him.

Rick nodded his head in agreement.

"I'll come too."

I gave him a firm pat on the back and then we both jumped out of the car to the gravel below. Our prison family were all outside waiting for us, along with David, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita and Tara. Beth was standing there with brows creased in concern and Judith in her arms.

"Imma track her down and bring her home." I told her.

Beth bobbed her head up and down in agreement.

"I'm coming too." Glenn said while stepping forward.

"Me too." Said another half dozen voices.

"No." Rick said firmly. "I need you to stay here and hold the fort in case they come back."

He looked over the willing group of participants. "We'll take Glenn and Abraham. The four of us should be able handle them."

"I'll come too." Volunteered David. "There may be no need for blood shed if I can talk to them."

Rick looked to me with doubt in his eyes, but then nodded his head in agreement.

I turned to Beth and told her and lil ass kicker I would be back soon. Beth didn't say goodbye, but I'm sure she knew she didn't need to.

* * *

We followed the trail over the fence and through the dirt on the other side. It looked as if they had left early in the morning while the ground was still damp, judging by the foot prints. If I had have spoken to her last night like I intended too she probably wouldn't have left. I knew I was going to be questioning everything I had done over the past few days and mentally kicking my own ass until I found her.

The tracks seemed to follow along the fence line, so we split into two groups and went opposite directions. Rick seemed eager to come with me, so Glenn, David and Abraham went together the other way.

When we were alone I tried to release some of the tension that was building up in my head by confessing to Rick.

"I knew somethin' was wrong." I muttered angrily. "I shoulda done somethin'."

"She tried to kiss me." Rick blurted out in response.

I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him.

"When?"

"That night she took over on your watch." Rick started pacing ahead slowly and I followed him listening to his tale. "Said she didn't want to be alone. I told her I ain't interested and she started wailing about me leaving her, and I knew she weren't right. I shoulda done somethin' too. I shouldna taken her out and left her after Karen died. She was part of our family, I shoulda taken better care of her."

"We all shoulda taken better care of her." I said thoughtfully, looking to my boots.

We followed the tracks around until we met up with the others again and then followed the path Abraham had found out into the woodland. We followed it for about an hour before realising it was spiralling outwards around Terminus. When it got dark and we still weren't any closer to them we stopped walking.

"They're circling us." I put to words what we were all thinking.

"We better get back to the others and make sure they're okay." Suggested Rick "We'll pick up from this point in the morning."

We all nodded our agreement and trudged back to Terminus empty handed. When we got back we found everyone in the mess hall looking anxious and miserable.

"You find anythin'?" Beth was rocking the sleeping Judith on her shoulder.

I shook my head and looked to my boots.

"Nothin. No blood. No sign of a struggle. I'm pretty sure Carol is okay." Rick informed everyone. "But they're circling us, they're waitin' for somethin'. I don't know what."

"To attack." Michonne sneered.

"I doubt it, their numbers are too low." Rick said with a shake of his head.

"They're waitin' for us to leave." Sasha said quietly. It was the first time I had heard her speak since Tyreese's funeral. "We_ should_ leave and give them this shit hole back." She said angrier and louder.

"We should go to Washington." Insisted Carl.

"The kids right." Agreed Abraham.

"We should have gone there first day." Sasha said glumly. "If we did, Tyreese wouldn't have been bit, and if we got there and found a cure, then it wouldn't even matter if he got bit, he wouldn't have got sick and he would still be alive."

We all stood in silence thinking it over.

"If we go, and they come back what will the rest of the survivors do." Rick said nodding to the others who were listening in on the conversation.

"I'll come to Washington." Declared Jason, while raising his hand up.

"I'll come too." Insisted Jane, raising her hand after Jason and then having it yanked back down by her father.

"We want to stay." Corrected her father.

Jane pouted and folded her arms moodily.

"I can't guarantee it'll be safe here if we go." Rick told them.

"I'll stay." David volunteered, putting his hand up. "I know this place well. I know its strengths and weaknesses. I ran it for over a year before you came, and if my boy comes back, I'm sure I can keep everyone safe."

"And Carol?" I asked.

"I'll make sure she gets the help she needs." David said with a nod.

I didn't want to leave Carol with Gareth. I certainly didn't want to leave her with Anton. I didn't even want to leave her with David. But if anyone of us was qualified to help her, it was him. Maybe being away from Beth and I for a while would do her good. We could always come back once we had seen Eugene safely to DC.

When I looked around at everyone, especially Beth and Judith, I knew that we needed to take him there. A cure was more important than anything else. I didn't want us living any longer than we had to in a world where we had to fear being eaten by the dead, and the living.

Rick looked to me like he was waiting for my approval.

"I'll go." I muttered. "Jus' lemme have one more look for her."

* * *

Rick, Abraham, Eugene and I stayed up late that night figuring out our plan of departure. We took an inventory of weapons and food, trying to decided what we would need for the trip and what we could leave behind for the others. I kept aside a small switchblade for Beth that I thought would be perfect to keep in her boot just in case. We decided we would take the two mini busses out so there was less chance of us being separated. We also had to look over road maps and figure out an alternative route if the roads had been blocked off like they were in Atlanta.

I came to bed sometime in the early hours of the morning. Beth was already curled up on her side sleeping peacefully. I pulled the switchblade from my pocket and dropped it in her boot for her to find in the morning. I didn't bother taking off my clothes or my boots, or my knife belt. I just fell into the bed beside her fully dressed, just like old times.

Beth shifted her shoulders and sighed as I wrapped my arm around her, and then placed her warm hand on top of mine and squeezed it.

"How you doin'?" She murmured.

I wanted to say I was okay. I wanted to keep everything I was feeling bottled up inside. That was the way I always dealt with things. Having the sweet smelling warm and soft Beth in my arms made me feel safe, so I just let my thoughts spill out my mouth.

"I shoulda gone after her when Rick sent her away." I told her regrettably.

She rolled over and rested her head on the pillow so she was facing me, with her nose only an inch away from mine. Then she wrapped her arm over my shoulder and started stroking the back of my neck, while she listened.

"I coulda brought her back. We mighta been together when the prison fell, I mighta been able to help her sooner." I continued.

"You might have left with her, and then we might never have got together." She replied gently without any jealousy.

I felt my lips press forward into a pout. As much as I hated leaving the prison, as much as I hated seeing Hershel killed, and all the other bad shit that had happened since then, I guess it was what brought Beth and I together.

I looked up towards Beth's big blue eyes full of understanding and sympathy, and I tried to force a smile.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people." She said while continuing to stroke along my neck and shoulders. "And sometimes there's nothin' anyone can do to stop those bad things from happenin'."

I dropped my eyes from hers and nodded, trying to accept what she was saying.

"And sometimes, if you let bad things consume you, there's no comin' back from it." She went on.

I grunted and nodded, acknowledging that there was every bit the chance that Carol wouldn't be coming back. To Terminus, or to who she used to be.

"Everythin' happens for a reason." Beth added.

I looked back to Beth's comforting eyes. "I jus' gotta know if she's alive. Once I know I can let it go."

Beth smiled softly then leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on my lips.

* * *

In the morning I untangled Beth's limbs from mine gently so I didn't wake her, and rolled silently off the mattress. I collected my Airborne and left the room, carefully shutting the door behind me with a soft click.

Mix was waiting outside the door, like he often was, and he followed me down the stairs and out of the building. I didn't want anyone to come with me. I knew that Rick and Beth wouldn't want me going alone, but I just wanted time to myself. I figured I could make an exception for the mutt.

Dean was on watch and he raised a curious eyebrow as Mix and I walked out the gate, but he didn't say anything. I trudged through the woods back to the place we had left off last night. The tracks were still there and I was thankful it hadn't rained anymore since the night before I fell in the creek. I brushed the fallen leaves away from the dirt surrounding the prints and Mix sniffed at them and started following them. I followed after him thinking I couldn't have a better companion. Loyal, could alert you to walkers, could drag you from death, could track, and didn't speak a word.

The tracks were doing the same as they did last night, spiralling outwards but still circling Terminus. I followed them until the sun had risen high and the winter chill had started to disappear from the air. Then Mix and I came upon their campsite. There was a small fire pit with fresh ash and beside that were several flat areas where bodies had slept. They were all fairly close together and overlapped in some places, but I was able to count them and determine there was one for each Termite and one extra. As long as no one slept on top of anyone else I was pretty certain I had the numbers right. I hoped that the extra one belonged to Carol and not Anton. I didn't want her to be with them at all, but I preferred her to be with them and alive, than alone and dead.

I searched around the campsite for a short time trying to find a sign Carol had been there, and then spotted Mix sniffling at a pile of leaves on the ground. I went over and brushed the leaves away and saw thin curled lines drawn in the dirt. The lines were clean as if they were made by a fine pointed blade. A Bowie like Carols. It could have been any knife really, but what was written there made me think it was Carols. Scrawled in neat cursive was a name repeated four times '_Sophia'_. And each name had a line crossed through it.

When I got back everyone was in the outside courtyard, packing up their things and saying goodbye. Beth and Rick both gave me concerned looks when I walked through, but they didn't scold me for going off alone. Beth came over and joked about packing everything up for me while handing me my neatly folded Poncho. I smiled at her and she pulled me to her chest and gave me a squeeze.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she whispered in to my ear.

"Yeah." I muttered in reply.

* * *

There were sixteen of us who were going to DC. Ten from the prison, four newcomers, the kid Jason, and it looked as though Jane had convinced her parents to let her come along too. I didn't know what help a small girl like her would be, but small girls had been surprising me lately. Abraham looked pissed that Harry, Noel and Dean weren't coming, but I figured they needed muscle to stay at Terminus anyway.

We all packed ourselves in to the two minivans. Abraham drove one with his group Tara, Jason and Jane and Maggie and Glenn. Rick drove the other with the rest of us, and with Judith perched on Michonne's knee on the back seat. There was barely any room in there as it was with all of our gear packed on the only spare seat, but then Mix decided to jump in with us and sat right on top of Beth and looked to the front with his one good eye like he was waiting for us to take off.

"No, Mix I'm going away now." Beth said, giving the mutt a squeeze around its middle.

"Think he's coming." David said poking his head inside the car.

"But…he's yours."

"Mixy goes wherever he is needed, don't you boy?" David reached in and gave Mix a scratch behind the ear. Mix gave David a lick on the hand in reply.

"He wants to save the world." David added with a chuckle.

Beth looked to me for my approval and I nodded. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my sidekick just yet.

* * *

We had been driving for a few hours when Beth lifted her head from my shoulder and started staring out the window.

"Rick, stop!" She called out urgently.

Rick glanced up to the rear vision mirror and then waved his arm out the window signalling to Abraham who was ahead of us to stop. We followed him for a few moments before he slowed and stopped on the side of the road. I looked back to Beth and wondered if she had forgotten something. I thought maybe it was her journal or one of her necklaces or some other thing she always seemed to be carrying, but I doubted she would make us turn back for something like that after hours of driving.

Everyone was staring at Beth now wondering why she needed us to stop. "What's up?" Rick asked her as he turned to the back of the car.

"I need a bathroom break." She declared, before looking to everyone while they rolled their eyes and groaned.

"What are you? Three?" I teased.

She smiled at me like she knew something I didn't know, then unbuckled herself and grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the car. I didn't know why she was taking me to the bathroom with her, I guess she wanted me to keep watch. I went to take a cigarette out to smoke while she did her business, but before I could she grabbed at my hand and led me over to a big green sign, mounted on the side of the road that read 'Welcome to South Carolina' in big white letters.

"You're leaving Georgia." She said, giving my hand a squeeze.

She had remembered what I had said when we played that stupid game back in the cabin, about how I had never left the state of Georgia.

"Goodbye Georgia." I sang with false enthusiasm, while I read over the writing on the sign and focused on the first five letters of Carolina

**AN: So I think this chapter had more Caryl than Bethyl. But Daryl really does care about Carol so it seems realistic.**  
**The last two chapters are pretty much done. I just need to add some details and edit a bit. It's going to be a bit risqué...**


	23. Firsts

**So you have probably realised by now I'm not writing a fluffy love story. This is about finding love in a world that's gone to shit. This story is full of grit, grime and gloom. You have been warned. **

***Warning* contains sexually explicit content and drug references. *Trigger Warning* for depictions of rape and other nastiness.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter XI**

**Firsts**

Rick had wanted to stay on route eighty five and head on into Charlotte, but as we got closer the road started to resemble a parking lot with abandoned cars all packed together, and the dead stumbling through them. There came a point where we could no longer weave through with the minivan without stripping shreds of the sides, or risking a walker through the windshield. So Rick pulled the car up beside Abraham and they decided they were going to go back to the nearest turn off and try another route.

After we made the turn off we drove for another hour before Rick tapped on the fuel gauge and decided we needed to stop and fill the car up with the gas we had stored in the cans in the back.

He honked the horn at Abraham who slowed to a stop ahead of us and then he got out the car and went to the back. Daryl jumped out of the car to help him. He had been fidgeting the whole trip, and grumbling about not being able to smoke in the car. The moment he had a foot out the door he had a cigarette lit and dangling from his lips. I rolled my eyes at him and decided to get out and take a real bathroom break this time. When I was done I took Judith off Michonne so she could do the same, and then went over to speak to Rick and Daryl.

I had to order Daryl away from Judith while he smoked the second cigarette in ten minutes. I gave him my best disapproving glare but he just grinned at me with the cigarette between his lips. They were talking about it getting dark soon and discussing if they were going to drive through the night or if they were going to stop and make camp somewhere. Daryl offered to drive the rest of the way so that Rick could get some rest, but before Rick could hand him the keys, Abraham came racing forward with an excited look on his face.

Abraham pointed off down the road and we all looked to see what it was that had got him all worked up. Now that the light was getting low we could make out what looked like a lit up sign off in the distance.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A gas station I would bet." Abraham said with a grin.

"With power?" Rick asked raising a curious eyebrow.

"Must be on solar or a generator or somethin'." Reasoned Abraham.

"Could be people there." Daryl said cautiously.

"Could be, but there could also be gas. If we have to keep taking back roads, we may run out before Washington." Abraham pointed out.

Rick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Okay we'll take one car up and check it out, if it's safe we'll come back for the others."

Abraham's car was the one that went ahead seeing as our car had Judith and Carl in it. Abraham ordered Eugene out and Rick took his place. They came back a few moments later declaring that not only was it empty ─other than a few walkers roaming around─ but it was also more than just a gas station.

We all got back in the cars and drove up to what looked like a motel. There was a long two story building with a white staircase climbing up to the second floor, a gas station and another building next door to the gas station that looked like a garage. The rooves of all the buildings were covered in solar panels so we figured the place had made use of green energy, since it was out in the middle of nowhere and all. Abraham declared that we would stay here the night and get some rest before making the remainder of the trip to Washington tomorrow. While everyone got out of the cars and collected their gear, Rick and Abraham rushed to the pumps with the gas cans to see if there was any gas left.

Daryl pulled out his bow ready to clear away some of the walkers that were lurking around the buildings and he handed me the crossbow.

"Get some more practice in." He suggested.

The bow hadn't been loaded yet, so I put my foot in the stirrup and drew back on the string. It was harder to load than I remembered. I had spent so much time at Terminus doing nothing much but cook, wash up and take care of Judith that my arms had gone soft again. After some struggling and straining I managed to get it latched. I put an arrow in the slot and aimed and fired into the nearest walker hitting it in the throat.

"Fuck." I spat. Daryl raised an eyebrow at my cussing and I smiled sweetly back at him.

"Take another shot." Daryl said nodding to the bow.

So I loaded the bow up again, still struggling and straining. It seemed it hurt my muscles even more the second time around. I had never had to load the bow twice in a row before.

"Gonna have guns like yours if I keep this up." I told Daryl between grunts. He grunted in reply.

Once I finally had it latched I examined my throbbing hands, to see red grazes all over my fingers from where the string had pulled against my skin.

"Gonna have hands like yours too." I said with a chuckle while holding out my hands for him to inspect. He looked at them and then groaned thoughtfully.

I took another shot at the walker and got him in the head. We had gained the attention of more walkers now so Daryl picked up his bow and shot five of them down before I had even managed to latch the crossbow again.

I took a shot at another getting him in the eye and then tried to string the bow again while grimacing at the pain in my hands.

Daryl stood behind me and took over latching the bow easily pulling on the string as if he was tying his shoe laces. When it was done he took the bow off me and used it himself to take out two more walkers. He handed the bow back to me with a stern look on his face, and I wondered if I had done something to upset him.

A group of us approached the motel while Rick and Abraham drove the cars up and reversed them into the bays so we could make a quick getaway if needed.

The motel looked as if people had tried to survive there after the turn, as there was a roll of chain link fence attached to the bottom of both staircases. Rick had grabbed some keys from inside the gas station and he took a group with him upstairs to open up the rooms and see if any dead were inside.

Daryl was walking along the bottom floor looking in the windows and banging on the doors to see if anything moved but they seemed to be empty. We heard some snarls from above us, but the others were able to take the walkers out with ease. When they had cleared out all the rooms they threw the corpses over the upstairs railing and let them splatter on the ground below.

"No fucking way." I heard Daryl exclaim from the other end of the motel walkway. I walked over to where he was standing to see what had got him so excited.

There lying on the ground on its side was a motorcycle. It looked like a Harley Davidsons judging by the badge, but I didn't know what type it was.

"Fat Boy." Daryl called it.

I walked over to the motorcycle and saw that there was a female walker pinned underneath it. She had long ginger hair that was crusted with mud and dirt and she was wearing a dirty leather vest that looked weather worn, but still in good condition. She snarled and stretched out her hands weakly as we got closer to her. Daryl walked up to her, avoiding her grasping fingers, and slammed his knife down into her head, silencing her for good.

Daryl stepped beside the corpse and stooped down pushing his back into the seat. He put one hand under the seat of the bike and the other near the tank and started pushing backwards levering the bike upwards. Glenn saw him struggling and came over to help him, but by the time he got there Daryl had it up and the stand kicked into place. He started looking over the motorcycle rubbing over it like it was some holy shrine. Daryl's bike had been destroyed back in the attack on the prison when daddy died. It was one of the only things Daryl spoke to me about those first few days after we got out together, how much he wished he could have rode out on that bike.

I looked down on the still body of the female walker. Her hair was fanned out over the bitumen and her dead eyes were gazing up into the evening sky. One of her legs was covered in black blood and her thigh bone was splintering through pieces of torn muscle.

"Did the bike squash her?" I asked.

"Prob'ly, The bike's 'bout 700 pounds." Daryl replied without taking his eyes off the bike.

"That seems like a big bike for a girl that size." I motioned to the slight frame of the walker. She was almost skeletal now, but she would have been small before.

"Looks like she was ridin' bitch, she weren't alone."

"Someone left her here?"

Daryl grunted. "Looks like it."

"Do you think it was her boyfriend?"

Daryl glanced down at the walker.

"Maybe." He said with a shrug.

Whoever it was they must have known her. I was astonished that she could just be left here like that, pinned under the motorcycle and no one would help her, not even someone who was supposed to care about her.

"How could you just leave someone like that?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders in reply. He knelt down by the bike and started talking in some foreign language with Glenn, about the motorcycle and what it needed to work again. The only words I understood were 'water damage' 'electrics' 'transmission' and 'bearings'. Daryl said he could fix it if the parts were in the garage, but he wasn't confident to fix the electrics. Glenn said he knew a bit about electronics before the turn, and he would try to help him fix it the next day. Daryl beamed up at him like a child presented with his birthday cake.

"Are you gonna take it?" I asked.

"Yeah, if I can get her workin'."

"Shouldn't we stay together?"

He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"We will. I can ride ahead scope things out, weave through traffic if we need. I can use it to draw attention from the walkers if there's too many. It uses shit all gas so won't be any drain on our supplies."

"Can I ride too?" I had never ridden on a motorcycle before and I didn't want Daryl out there alone drawing walkers away.

"Sure you can." He replied with a deep nod of his head.

"You won't leave me behind if it falls on me?"

He looked up at me with a squint in his eye like he was thinking about it. I crossed my arms in mock annoyance.

"I won't leave you behind." He chuckled to himself and then went back to talking about the bike with Glenn.

While they were talking their nonsense I had managed to drag the leather vest off the walker and try it on. It was a nice vest, tailored perfectly to my figure and similar to Daryl's except where his had wings there were two eagles soaring into each other.

"Imma mothafuckin' badass." I drawled in my best Daryl Dixon voice. Daryl turned to me looked me over and then stepped to me and started pulling the vest of my shoulder.

"What are you doin'?" I slipped away from his grip.

"Take it off." He demanded pointing a finger at the vest.

"It's not that dirty, and it don't smell that bad." I said giving the jacket a sniff. It did smell a bit, but it just needed some airing. "I'll be badass like you." I said grinning up at him.

He made a grab for the front of the vest and pulled me in close to him and started talking low so no one else could hear.

"I don't want you bein' like me." He murmured.

The smile fell from my face as I looked up into his stern blue eyes.

"I'm forever fuckin' grateful that you saved my ass, and I'm real proud you learnt how to use my bow. But I don't want you havin' rough hands, and I don't want you havin' big guns. I don't want you cussin' all the time, and I don't want you bein' badass. I like you being small and soft, and good, and I like bein' the one protectin' you."

"Oh." Was all I could manage to reply.

"The reason I like ya so much is 'cause you're not like me." He added, before forcing his lips in to an awkward smile.

I returned the smile, knowing that he meant well, and then slipped the vest off and let it fall to the ground.

* * *

We all took a room on the top level and the chain link fence was rolled back over the entrance to the stairs. Tara, Rosita, Sasha and Bob offered to take the watch for the night as they had all slept in the car on the way here.

By the time we got in the room it was dark. I knew that place was supposed to have power, but I took the candles out of my bag anyway, candles are more romantic. I placed them around the room, while Daryl went around and lit them with his lighter. When he was done he pulled out another cigarette and place it between his lips and went to light it.

"Uh uh." I said pulling it from his lips and throwing it to the small table by the entrance to the room. He rolled his eyes at me and then picked it up and put it back in his pocket.

"I gotta take a piss." Daryl told me, oh so eloquently.

I giggled at him, and he smiled back at me before heading into the bathroom, and taking a candle in there with him. I wondered if he was going in there to smoke, and decided I was too tired to argue with him if he was. I dropped my bag on to the floor, toed out of my boots letting the switchblade Daryl had given me slip back inside it, and strolled over to the sleeping area that was in the back of the motel room. I threw myself back on the bed and waved away some of the dust that puffed out of the sheets. The dust didn't bother me at all. The sheets were all tucked in to the bed, so either this bed hadn't been slept in since before the turn, or the people who stayed here last were particular about making beds.

I heard the sound of the toilet flush and heard Daryl whistle to himself. Then I heard the sound of water pattering rapidly. So I jumped off the bed and walked in to the bathroom to see if it was what I thought it was.

The sight before me filled me with joy. Daryl was dressed only in his jeans and the muscles on his arms and back were flexing as he leaned into the shower. But that wasn't the best part. There was a stream of water coming from the shower head, and splashing all over Daryl's bare feet.

"This place has its own water supply too." Daryl beamed, looking at me under the arm he was using to support himself on the wall.

I felt a little shudder of pleasure run up my body as I thought of having a shower again. The water would probably be freezing, but I didn't care, I hadn't had a shower since back at the prison.

Then I saw Daryl's face fall slack. He tipped his head up to the ceiling and rolled his eyes back into his head like he was in ecstasy. I could now see that steam was billowing up from the floor of the shower.

I let out an astonished gasp. "Hot water?"

"Fucking yes." Daryl said enthusiastically.

He pulled his hand from the wall and dropped his jeans in one quick motion and kicked them off to the corner of the bathroom. He jumped in the shower and let out an orgasmic moan as the water run down over his long hair and streamed out over his broad shoulders and strong arms.

I felt myself quiver a bit between the legs at the sight.

Daryl wiped the water from his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and then looked up at me. Gosh darn he looked so sexy with his wet hair all pushed away from his face like that.

"You should hop in. Don't know how long this water's gonna last."

Hot shower with Daryl? Yes please!

I ripped off my sweater and tee together excitedly and threw them to the floor, then I unclasped my bra and flung that on top of my clothes, I undid my belt and pulled my jeans down. Then I tucked my thumbs into my underwear and stopped, suddenly remembering it was the wrong time to be getting naked with Daryl.

He watched me while I stood there with my thumbs in my underwear pouting.

"You gettin' in or what?" He said leaning his head out of the water and allowing the water to run over his shoulders and down his chest.

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"You know." I said with a shrug, hoping I wasn't going to have to explain in detail.

He glanced at my underwear and then back at my face and he grinned widely.

"After all the shit I've seen you think I care 'bout a bit of lady blood? Get your ass in 'ere Greene." He chuckled to himself and then turned around so his scarred and tattooed back was to me, glistening wet in the candle light.

I hesitated for a moment wondering how awkward it would be to shower with Daryl like this. It kind of seemed like a sacred thing that women kept to themselves, but the thought of having a hot shower was so tempting, and there may not be enough hot water if I had one after Daryl. I shrugged my shoulders and dropped my underpants and kicked them behind me and figured if it didn't bother Daryl then it didn't bother me either.

I jumped into the shower behind him and shuddered as the hot water pelted down on my skin, massaging my aching muscles. Working the crossbow wasn't only murder on the fingers and the arms; it was also killing the bundle of muscles that ran from my neck to my shoulder.

Daryl turned around when I was in the water and examined my nakedness with a smirk on his face. He reached behind my head and pulled out the tie that was holding my ponytail and then tossed it out of the shower.

"You look mighty fine when you're all wet." He pulled his lip into his mouth and bit on it while he inspected me. "_And_ when you're all wet." He repeated raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"Stop it." I said slapping him playfully and thinking about how amazing he looked all wet too.

There were small bottles of soap and shampoo in the shower shelf. I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squeezed it into my hand, and rubbed it through my scalp. I closed my eyes while I massaged it in, and let out a long, tension releasing groan. I opened my eyes to see Daryl watching me through slightly squinted sultry eyes, and I felt another throb of desire pulsate through me.

"You look like you haven't washed your hair in like, three years." I said nodding towards his hair, looking for a distraction from my urges.

"Nah uh, I washed it last year." He said with a sideways grin.

"Lemme wash it." I started tugging and pushing on his shoulders trying to turn him around.

"It goes all fluffy when I wash it." He said fighting me off.

"C'mon, I like your smell and all but I think things are actually livin' in there." I flicked at his long wet locks.

"You ain't gonna deprive the possums of their home are ya?"

I pushed him around again and this time he didn't resist.

"You don't really care none for animals at all do you?" He joked, as I rubbed the shampoo into his scalp.

"Only the ones with cute tushes."

I watched as the soap suds slipped down his muscular scarred back, between his cute back dimples and then between the cheeks of his firm backside. I felt another throb between my legs and struggled with myself to push the desire from my mind.

I rubbed the soap into his shoulders, smoothing it down over his neck to the top of his bicep feeling the muscles slip under my fingers. I pushed and kneaded and he let out a soft groan of delight. Then I rubbed down his back, pressing my fingers over the scars that crisscrossed there. He gasped and tensed up a little when I did that.

"Thought it didn't hurt no more?" I murmured into his ear.

"It don't. Just not used to bein' touched there is all." He said in a strained voice.

I stepped back and rubbed the soap on to his back dimples and then cupped my hands over his backside and gave them a squeeze. He turned suddenly so the back of my fingers were resting against his engorged penis.

"You gonna wash the front too?" He asked slyly.

I pulled my hands away and rubbed the soap over his chest and smirked at his disappointed look. I ran my hands up over his neck, to his jaw and then behind his ears, and finally through his hair to rinse out the soap.

While my fingers ran through his long hair, He took his arms behind me and squeezed the bottle of body wash in to his hands. He rubbed up over my back, then to my backside and then reached down and brushed between my thighs.

"Don't." I said, flinching away.

"Told ya, it don't bother me."

He slipped his soapy hands over my hip, then up my abdomen. He slid his palms up my chest and then pushed up the bottom of my breasts using the index finger in each hand. When he reached my nipples he closed his thumb over them and gave them a little tweak. I let out a sharp gasp and then shook my head in an effort to shift the thoughts away.

"It don't seem right." I shuddered slightly as he massage around my nipples.

"What ain't right about it?" He said while pushing me back against the cold tiles. He braced his hands against the wall beside my head and my eyes locked on to his arms as they flexed beside my face. He leaned forward and slipped his tongue gently into my mouth and then flicked it up so it curled against the underside of my top lip.

A shudder ran through my body, and I clenched my legs together trying to squeeze away the tension that was building there.

"Ever had sex in the shower?" He murmured against my lips.

"That's a silly question. You've been there every time I've had sex." I murmured back.

He moved his mouth to my ear and bit lightly on my ear lobe, and then started kissing behind my ear breathing heavily and making my hairs stand on end.

"Neither have I." He murmured into my ear, while pressing his warm, soapy, wet body against mine and letting me feel his hard penis push against my abdomen.

"Oh yeah?" I whimpered.

The candlelight was catching in the water that was rippling over his shoulders, down his back and over his backside, accentuating every muscle. It made him look like a golden statue of a Greek god.

"First time for everythin'." He murmured before dipping his head and licking up the soapy water that ran from my ear to the base of my neck.

My legs started to tremble and the throb between my legs turned into a desperate, longing ache.

"I…I can't."

_Shut up Beth._

"Sure you can." He ran his hand firmly down my back over my backside, and down to my thighs. Then bending his knees slightly he pulled my thigh towards him so that my leg wrapped around him, with my thigh resting on his. Most of my weight was being held by him, but I stood on my tip toes to balance the other leg.

"Oh God!" I called out, feeling his shaft pressing between my lips, and rubbing against my most sensitive spot. My head was spinning and my legs were trembling, and my toes on the tiles were starting to slip. I put my hands to his shoulders to steady myself.

"The names Daryl." He murmured while he took himself in one hand and pulled his hips back until I could fill the end of him pressing against me. Then he drove into me forcing me back against the wall.

I immediately let out a moan and arched my back and dug my nails into his shoulders as my muscles started contorting in waves around the length of him.

"Already?" He had a satisfied grin on his face.

"Oh my God, just fuck me!" I said wrapping my arms around his shoulders and lifting my other leg and wrapping it tightly around his waist.

"I told ya, I didn't like you swearin'." He pulled out of me a couple of inches, using his hands to tip my hips back, and then gave me a hard thrust that knocked my head back against the wall, and sent another jolt of pleasure through my body.

"And I told ya, the name's Daryl." He thrust into me again, punishing me in the most delicious way possible.

"Oh _fff_." I blew between teeth and lip, trying to control my outburst.

"That's a good girl, now you just gotta say my name." He gave me another single thrust watching my face intensely.

"Daryl." I called between gasps.

"Say it again." He pounded into me again, pushing against my tingling bunch of nerve endings, and reaching deep inside to a place only he knew.

"Daryl!" I cried while throwing my head back, and ignoring the pain when it hit the tile again.

He put his mouth to my exposed throat and started biting, kissing, licking and sucking while I continued to moan. He held me firmly on the backside with his strong hands and used them to help draw in and out of me, while my back and shoulders were pressed against the wall, and my shaky arms rested on his shoulders.

I put one of my hands behind his head and put the other one in between his shoulder blades and gripped on to him as tightly as I could pressing my breasts into his chest. I put my mouth to his shoulder and squealed into the wet flexing muscles.

I moaned his name over and over again, while he pushed himself deeper and deeper inside of me bursting the bubbles of pleasure that were brewing there.

He pounded into me for what felt like an eternity, while I shuddered and writhed and convulsed and clenched, until I felt like the only part on my body that existed was the part he was slamming himself into.

A toe curling orgasm took hold of me and I bit into his shoulder in an effort to control my cries, while I convulsed around him. He gave me one hard, deep thrust and I could feel him throbbing inside me, meeting my convulsions. He threw his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, and groaned while he made a series of slow and shallow thrusts until he was just moving his hips around ever so gently against me.

When he had finished groaning and panting and cussing under his breath, he opened his steely blue eyes and gazed into my own, then gave a weary chuckle.

"Did you just finish?" I breathed.

"uh huh."

"Inside me?"

"Yeah, that's okay now ain't it?"

I tried to think back to sophomore human biology. I didn't remember if we had ever discussed it.

"I don't know that it is."

Daryl stopped with his gentle hip movements and slowly put my legs back down and pulled himself out of me. He dropped his eyes down avoiding my uncertain gaze while he washed himself clean.

"Don't know?" He glanced back up at me.

I shook my head completely uncertain about the safety of the sex we just had and then shuddered as I came to realise the water had gone cold.

* * *

After our invigorating shower I stayed in the bathroom, wearing just my underwear and wrapped up in a towel and looked into the foggy mirror. I ran my fingers through my tangled, freshly washed hair and took in my flushed appearance. I wondered how much of our shower could have been heard by the neighbour, as the bathroom did seem to echo a bit. I discovered just how much when I heard a male and female voice giggling together. I tried to think who had taken the room next to ours. It might have been Jane and Jason, or maybe even Michonne and Rick. I wondered if they were laughing at what they had heard moments ago, or if they were finding amusement in something else.

When I got out of the bathroom I found Daryl lying naked on the bed looking very pleased with himself. I dropped the towel and crawled into the bed and curled up beside him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in closer to him.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked.

"Look what I found." He leaned to the side of the bed and pulled out a plastic zip lock bag from the side table draw. He held the bag in front of my face. I could see two rolled cigarettes inside.

"Cigarettes?" I asked with a raised brow, confused as to why he would be so excited about two measly cigarettes.

He started laughing at me.

"You can't be that innocent Greene!" He popped the bag open and then held it under my nose.

"Smell."

I took the bag and smelt the contents and my nose was filled with a stale musty odour. It smelt nothing like tobacco.

"What are they?" I asked, holding my nose.

"Blunts." He said plainly. That didn't make any sense they looked twisted to a point to me.

"Aunt Mary." He was looking at me like I was a fool. I shrugged my shoulders not knowing what his aunt had to do with it.

"Chronic, weed, cannabis, mah-ree-waana."

"Drugs!" I exclaimed dropping the bag like it was poison.

"It's not _drugs_ Greene." He said snatching the bag back up and pulling one of the thingies out.

"It is so Daryl, I learnt about it in high school."

"It's natural, it grows from mother Earth." He put one in his mouth and then reached for the lighter.

"What are you doing." I said knocking his hand away.

"We're gonna share one." He mumbled while holding it out of the corner of his mouth.

I shook my head. "No we are not, I'm not gonna fry my brain."

He pulled it out of his mouth and started chuckling loudly at me with his broad shoulders shaking.

"Good one Greene." He said between chuckles. "You been listenin' to too much government shit."

"I have not. I read about it. I know it can make you paranoid and lazy and hungry…and…it makes you laugh at stupid things."

"I smoked it for years, and I ain't laughing at anythin' stupid."

He put it back in his mouth and started flicking at his lighter trying to light it. I snatched the thingy out of his mouth.

"I thought you didn't want me to be like you." I reminded him.

He pushed his brows together in a frown.

"C'mon girl, you don't wanna get high for the first time with me?"

"I'll share a lot of firsts with you, but not that." I said firmly.

He let out a long sigh and then snatched it out of my hand and threw it over his shoulder so it landed on the ground beside the bed. Then he tossed the bag on the floor to meet it.

"Whatever you say ma'am." He crowed.

I smiled at him and then tucked myself in to him resting my head on his shoulder, and he pulled the blankets over the both of us and blew the candle on the side table out.

The room was momentarily black until my eyes adjusted to the light.

"What was your first time like?" I whispered into the darkness.

"Smoking weed?"

"No, having sex."

"It was shit." He said stroking his hand along my back.

I waited for him to expand, but Daryl was known to be a man of few words, and he would need encouragement.

"Why?" I prompted.

"I was bent. I was fourteen and she was...I dunno…in her twenties? She was one of Merle's friends. Think she only did it 'cause she thought Merle would give her some crystal."

I had heard of crystal before, and knew it was a drug, but I wasn't entirely sure what kind of drug.

"What was her name?"

"Fucked if I know."

"So you never saw her again?"

"I saw her at parties and shit, but I never fucked her again if that's what you're askin'."

I pouted into the darkness wondering what it would be like to share something so special with someone and then never be with them again.

"How about your first love?"

I felt his body tense beside me. I waited for him to reply and when he didn't I poked him in his chest and mumbled "hmmm?"

"I ain't ever loved no one…before."

I thought back to the time we spent in the pecan grove and how he had told me he didn't know how to make love. I had thought what he was trying to say was that he didn't know how to love. I wondered if he knew a little more about it now. I wanted to ask him what he meant by _'before'_. I wanted to know if he meant he had never loved anyone before me, but I was a little scared that wasn't what he meant at all. So I just kept silent and stroked along his chest until we were both asleep.

* * *

I woke up to the smell of Daryl's freshly washed ─ and ridiculously fluffy ─ hair spread across my face. We had shifted in the night and I was now lying curled into his back with my arm draped over his shoulder and my leg wrapped around his waist.

I snuggled into the warmth of him and thought about how much I would love to lie in bed with him all day, rather than make the trip the rest of the way to DC. I nuzzled my nose into his neck and ran my hand down across his firm chest and belly, feeling the contours of his body. As I reached downward my hand brushed against something hard and smooth. I wrapped my hand around it, realising what it was and wondering what dreams he was having to make it so hard. I gave a little squeeze and he shifted a bit in the bed.

I began running my hand up and down the shaft gently at first and then firmer. He let out a groan in response.

"Why are you so hard?" I whispered into his ear.

"I always am in the mornin'." He mumbled in reply.

I continued with the long firm strokes, gripping him at the base and pulling firmly until I reached the tip and then starting all over again.

"So you weren't dreamin' of me?" I whispered again. His shoulders shuddered a little as my lips brushed his ear.

"I mighta been." He admitted.

"What were you dreamin' of?" I asked, leaning over a little so I could see his face.

"Somethin' we have to go back in the shower to do." He said turning into me and lying on his back. I gave him another firm squeeze and drew my hand up until I had let him go and he flicked back on to his abdomen. He let out grunt in response.

"Maybe not." I said with a raise of my eyebrows.

I crawled on top of him and kissed him gently on the lips then I let my tongue slip into his mouth and flicked it against his top lip like he had done to me last night.

"Yeah?" He murmured against my lips.

I kissed the hair on his chin, then under his chin where the hair disappeared, then along his throat and then his collarbone.

I looked up at him to see if he had any idea where I was going. And he looked down on me with a raised brow like he had no clue.

I grinned to myself and then kissed his chest. I ran my tongue through the fine hairs that grew there and spiralled it around his nipple, and then ran my tongue back over his chest and did the same to the other nipple. He let out a little sigh as my tongue touched each one. I moved downwards, kissing him on his ribs, then on his naval, and then on his hips, where he flinched a little laughed.

"Where are you goin? Greene." He asked me while propping himself on his elbows.

"Somewhere I've never been before." I replied, while looking up at him and trying to look as sultry as possible.

"Are you sure you wanna do…ahh." He let out a groan as I wrapped my hand around him and put my mouth straight over the end of his penis.

I really didn't know what I was doing. My girlfriends in school had done this to their boyfriends before, but we never really spoke about it, they never gave me any tips. All I knew was that you put it in your mouth and suck it. So I sucked on it a little and enjoyed him sighing and groaning and twisting his hands in the sheets. Then I moved my lips down trying to take as much of him in my mouth as I could.

His penis hit me in the wrong spot and I spat it out gagging and choking.

"Slow down, girl." He said with a chuckle.

"I don't really know what I'm doing." I said while I wrapped my hand back around him and examined it, planning out my attack.

"You gotta treat it like a lolly pop, and then you treat it like its….oh holy fuck… yep just like that."

He threw his head back on the bed and grunted and groaned as I licked it like a lollipop and then rolled my tongue around the base of his head like I was slurping up drips from an ice-cream. He looked back down over his heaving chest and I looked up at him through lowered lids. While he was still in my mouth I asked him "How does that feel?" But it came out "heh ahh ah uh."

Then he tried to say something to me, but I couldn't make it out among his grunts and groans.

Big, strong, brave Daryl Dixon was powerless and completely under my control.

I put my hand to the base of his penis and wrapped it firmly around and then I moved the hand up and down while I moved my mouth in the same way.

Daryl let out a long groan before he was interrupted by a loud bang on the window. I jumped away from Daryl, falling off the side of the bed and landing with a thump on the floor.

"You comin'?" Called Glenn from outside.

"No I'm fuckin' not." Daryl yelled towards the door. "Thanks to you." He said under his breath.

I could hear Glenn chuckling outside the window. "C'mon man, you want to get that bike running before we leave, right?"

I had crawled to my knees and was now resting my chin on the bed watching Daryl as he grunted and cussed while he rolled off the bed and went searching for his clothes. When he sat back on the bed to pull on his boots I climbed on behind him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

He turned and kissed me on the cheek.

"We'll finish that later." He said with a grin on his face.

* * *

While Glenn and Daryl were fixing the bike I decided to enjoy the last hot shower I was likely to have for a long time. When I got out I dried myself and got dressed in my jeans, tee and sweater and then tied my hair in a ponytail.

I pulled back the blinds on both the windows to allow some natural light into the room and then I slid open the glass paned window above the bed to try to get some of the stale smell out. I admired the view out the window of the dense green woodland and took note of the metal grated fire escape running alongside the rear of the motel.

I left the room and padded across the icy cold concrete searching for Rick to see if he needed help with Judith. I found him in the room next door to mine and he handed her over gratefully to me. He told me that he and Abraham had some things to organise before they left and they wanted to give Daryl some time to fix the bike.

"He deserves it." Rick said.

"He does." I agreed.

That was when we heard the familiar and terrifying sound of rapid firing gun shots. Rick pushed past me and ran outside and leaned over the railing. I followed him out and saw that there were three cars parked down near the garage and there were men firing towards it. I panicked as I thought of Daryl being down in there working on the bike and scanned the buildings below to see if I could spot him. I saw him racing from one of the mini vans to the back of the Garage with a rifle in his hand.

"Get Judith inside." Rick called up to me, he had made his way downstairs while I was looking for Daryl. I nodded my head and then took Judith back in to my room. I grabbed my bag and raced over to the bed with Judith on my hip and started packing it up. Then I heard a familiar voice call from the open doorway that sent a shiver up my spine.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the one who got away." Came the sickeningly smooth voice of Anton.

* * *

I screamed for help as soon as I saw him, but there was so much gun fire down stairs there was no way anyone could hear me. My bow was by the side of the door along with Daryl's bow, my boots and my switch blade and Anton was blocking the path. I searched around the room frantically for anything I could use as a weapon.

I grabbed the heavy candle and ditched it at his head, but he dodged away from it and reached towards me. Anton wrenched Judith free from my arms and tossed her on to the couch. I watched in horror as she landed hard on the cushion, but was momentarily relieved when I saw her pull herself up and start crying, shocked but seemingly unhurt.

I turned away from Anton and leapt up on to the bed and dove straight for the screen window above the bed. I landed hard up against the mesh, but it gave and let me topple out the window and on to the grated walkway below. My shoulder was aching from the rough land, but I pushed pain from my mind and pulled myself to my feet and ran straight for the ladder. I climbed on to the ladder and half slid, half fell down to the gravelled ground below.

Anton had climbed out the window after me. He raced down the walkway and then slid down the ladder more skilfully than I did. I screamed for help again as I backed down the slope behind the motel towards the woods, but the gunfire continued and my voice was drowned out.

From out of nowhere a bundle of white fur dove in towards Anton with teeth bared and directed towards his throat. Anton dodged backwards and swung a fist outwards into Mix's skull and I heard a sickening crunch. I watched as Mix's limp body fell to the ground. I let out a whimper at the sight of my still, faithful companion, before turning and racing into the thicket of trees.

I kept running blindly with tears stinging my eyes, and stones tearing at my feet. Branches leapt out at me from every which way and clawed at my skin and clothes, and my lungs burned with exhaustion. I wished I had of put my boots on this morning. I wish I had the switch blade Daryl gave me or the little hunting knife I had lost long ago. Even that stupid little steak knife I had carried around in my boot for so long would be welcome at this point. I wished I had of killed Anton when I had the chance.

My shaking legs gave way as my barefoot landed on a broken branch and sent a wave of pain through me. I stifled my groan and then rolled into a nearby bush trying to hide from Anton.

"We playin' hide and seek now?" Anton called as he searched in the bushes around me.

"My niece liked to play hide and seek. She played it with me the day she died. She wasn't very good at it."

Anton chuckled to himself and my skin crawled as I thought about how his niece had died.

My foot was throbbing from where the branch had pierced through the skin, and the pain gave me an idea. I searched around under the bush for a stick that I might be able to use to defend myself. The first one I found was still green and refused to break, but the second one snapped into a sharp point. Anton turned as the sound of the snap revealed my position, and he lunged towards me. I stabbed the stick down into his hand and he let out a wail before removing the stick and tossing it away.

While he cursed and yelled and pressed at the blood that was bubbling from his hand, I made another run for it. I had only made it a few steps before I was stopped by a slender hand wrapped around my flailing wrist and it jerked me backwards. Shocked at the smooth skin and fine fingers I felt, I swung around to see who had grabbed me and fell to my knees when I saw Carol's blue eyes staring back at me.

Carol fell to her knees beside me and then pulling me by the wrist she swung my body around so that my back was against her chest, and her left arm was draped over my chest and to my shoulder.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I sat in Carols secure embrace.

"Thank God Carol! I am so..."

I was cut off when I felt the bite of cold steel pressed to my throat and realised Carol was holding her knife there.

"What are you doing?" I wailed and she pressed the blade in firmer.

Anton was stalking towards me with a sadistic grin on his face, and blood running over his injured hand. He dropped to his knees before me and started tugging at the belt in his pants.

"I missed you girl." He hissed.

"You broke Anton's heart when you left him for Daryl, Beth. You broke his heart and mine." Carol murmured into my ear.

I tried to steady my erratic breath as I watched Anton flick his belt apart and then start unbuttoning his jeans.

"But Anton forgives you and he still wants you, so he's gonna take you now, and you're gonna let him okay?" Carol went on.

"No! That's not okay!" I muttered, while trying to pull at her arm. It wasn't going to give. "Carol, what are you doing, this isn't right." I wanted to struggle and I wanted to run, but her knife was pressed so hard into my throat I thought the slightest move would open me up. So I just moaned uncontrollably, scared that if I screamed the movement would push the knife in deeper.

"Shhh, just be a good girl and let him take you, and you'll be his, and Daryl will be mine, and everything will be the way it's supposed to be." Carol murmured. Then she whispered _"This isn't about you repopulating the Earth."_ Before twitching her head to the side like she was shaking something away. She sounded as if she was talking to herself. If she was talking to me I had no idea what she was saying.

Anton now had his pants around his knees and he was tearing at my jeans. I couldn't even struggle for fear of what Carol would do, so I just let him pull them down and wept helplessly.

"Carol…please…help me." I whispered between sobs.

Carol ignored my pleas and started rocking with me held tight against her chest. I could feel warm wetness running in between our cheeks that were pressed together, and I knew she was crying.

All I could do was cry with her.

I wailed as I felt Anton force his way into me, and felt the steel pierce the skin as my throat bobbed. Anton made a sickening groaning sound into my ear and Carol whimpered into my other ear. I felt furious, helpless, confused, hurt, lost, betrayed and physically ill. Carol stroked along my arm with her left hand and whispered.

_"It's okay honey, it's okay."_

* * *

**_AN: So yeah...discuss._**

**_I got the locations from Google maps, so I don't know how accurate they are._**


	24. Lasts

**AN:** **If you couldn't handle the last chapter, then you wont be able to handle this either.**

***Trigger Warning* For depictions of rape.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part II**

**Only Way Onward - Chapter XII**

**Lasts**

There was a sudden loud banging on the window, that left the glass pane shuddering. The heat and moistness of Beth's mouth slipped off my cock and in a tumble of naked arms and legs, she disappeared off the side of the bed and landed somewhere out of sight with a thud.

"You comin'?" Glenn called from outside the window.

_Are you fucking kidding me!_

"No I'm fuckin' not." I yelled towards the door. "Thanks to you." I muttered under my breath. He just had to bang on my window at exactly the wrong time.

I could hear Glenn chuckling outside the window, like he knew exactly what he had just interrupted. "C'mon man, you want to get that bike running before we leave, right?"

I felt like I could kill him now more than I felt like killing him when he withheld my cigarettes.

I turned to where I had last seen Beth disappear of the bed, to see her wide blue innocent eyes watching me with her chin rested on the side of the bed. I had to fight every primal urge in my body to not roll over, grab her by the ears and get her to finish what she started. But with Glenn outside the door, I didn't think either of us could stay in the zone.

So I rolled off the bed and went searching for my clothes. I pulled on my jeans shirts and vest and then sat down to pull my boots on. The blunts I had tossed last night where still on the floor. I thought it would be a waste to leave them. We could use them to celebrate when we got Eugene safely to DC, I'm sure someone would want to share them. So I tucked them into my cigarette packet, besides my last two cigarettes. Beth climbed on to the bed behind me and wrapped her small arms around my shoulders, just as I tucked the pack away.

_Don't start lying to the girl._

I figured if she didn't ask then I wouldn't be lying. I turned and studied her angelic face with the smooth white skin and pink soft lips that had just been around my cock. It's not like I could corrupt her any more than I already had. I gave her a kiss on her hot flushed cheek.

"We'll finish that later."

Beth lay back on the bed, hair spread against the pillow and bra barely covering her tits. I wondered how long it would take to fix the bike and if Rick would be sympathetic to a quickie before we left.

…

As soon as I was out the door I lit up another cigarette. It would probably be a couple of hours of work at least, and I couldn't smoke in the garage. Glenn and I rolled the bike over to the garage and Glenn went around and opened the door for me. The garage was dusty and full of cobwebs, but it was also filled with parts. There was a wrecked frame of a bike in there so I figured this garage had worked on motorcycles at some time. I had worked at a HOG shop one summer when I was younger and the same model had been brought in several times, although it was new back then, and now this one was ten or so years old.

The bike had been sitting out in the rain for at least a few months and it was spotted with rust and possibly water logged. I was fairly certain I could get her going again, depending on the damage done. So I put the bike into the paddock stands and searched around for what I would need. I got to checking the wheel and brake system while Glenn had a look at the wiring harness and got to making a new one.

"So, how are things going with Beth?" Glenn asked casually while he was crimping wires to terminals.

I glanced up at him in the middle of examining the sprocket and grunted in reply.

"That good huh?"

"S'okay." I muttered.

"Do you ah…find the age difference a problem?"

I dropped the wrench I was holding and then glared up at him.

Glenn held his hands up defensively.

"Why, did her sister say somethin'?"

"She just wonders what you guys have in common is all."

I stood up and moved over to the next wheel.

"You wanna know what we have in common? We live in a shitty ass world, we care about each other and we want to survive. It's the same as what you and Maggie have in common, am I right?"

Glenn raised his eyes to the roof in thought and then gave a shrug and smiled at me.

Glenn spent the rest of the time telling me how he used to wire up computers for his geeky friends as a side job before the turn. I told him stories of working in the HOG shop. He asked me why I left, and I told him how Merle had robbed the place and been caught on camera, and being a small town everyone knew he was my brother, so that was added to a long list of my short term jobs. Glenn chuckled at my story like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

When I had changed all the parts that needed changing and cleaned her up, I took the bike off the paddock stands and hopped on to her. I stroked over the fuel tank and the leather seat, and asked her to be a good girl.

"Let's start 'er up." I said to Glenn with a grin and he took a step back, as if the bike might bite him. I hoped she would at least growl at him. I pulled out the kicker and gave it a push. She whirred a little and then stopped. I pushed it again and she whirred a little longer this time, but then cut out again.

"You hook everythin' up right?" I asked Glenn.

"I guess…I don't really know." He replied with a shrug.

I give it one more push and almost came when I felt it rumble to life and roar between my legs. It felt about half as good as Beth's tongue on my dick, which was still pretty fucking good.

Glenn clapped his hands together and took a few steps back while I gave the bike a few revs. He looked just about as happy about the bike as I was with a grin from ear to ear, but then his face suddenly fell.

"You hear that?" He called over the roar.

I shut the bike off and listened out. I could hear it, it sounded like gunshots. I kicked the stand, leapt of the bike and raced for the door following Glenn. We both fell to the oil stained ground and poked our heads cautiously out of the doorway to see what was going on.

Over by the gas station I could spot three cars. Two trucks and a hatch, like the ones that were left at Terminus. The cars were empty, but I could spot the shadows of figures moving about behind them.

"Gareth." I hissed over to Glenn.

"I gotta get to Maggie." Glenn said creeping out of the door way and making a sharp turn around the corner, scrambling through the loose stones on the road in an effort to get to his feet. The Termites were shooting towards an abandoned truck and Abraham and Jason where taking cover behind it, firing blindly into the open space whenever the return fire halted.

While Gareth was distracted by Abraham and Jason, I followed Glenn around to the back of the garage, and pressed my back against the brick wall while I planned my next move. I had left my Airborne upstairs and all I had on me was my Busse. It would be useless unless I was up close, and there wasn't enough cover between here and the Termites to get close enough. We had a huge cache of weapons in the back of the minivan though, and getting there would require far less cover. I crouched low and ran over to the van skimming my hands and knees along the ground on the way and Glenn followed behind me, matching me pace for pace. We opened the back and Glenn pulled out his riot gear and grabbed an M4 and I grabbed two M16s.

Rick and the others clamoured to the vans and started ripping out guns and ammo for themselves. The brainiac Eugene lingered midway on the staircase looking like he was lost. I pointed a finger up to him.

"Stay there." I demanded. I wasn't about to lose our payload one day out from its destination.

"Where's Beth?" I called to Rick as I backed away from the van.

"She's got Judith." He replied before racing off carrying an armful of guns.

I glanced up at the door to our room and saw it was still open. As long as I could keep the gunfire away from the motel, Judith and Beth would be safe.

While we were running towards the abandoned cars to take cover, Glenn caught a bullet and fell to the ground. Rick and I grabbed him by his vest and dragged him to safety behind a truck. Maggie came racing over panic stricken and started shaking his limp body. Glenn grunted and opened his eyes and then revealed the bullet had been stopped by Kevlar. I slapped him hard on the shoulder for making me worry and then started firing blindly in the direction of the Termites until there was a lull in gunfire. Then Rick put his back to the car peeked around the fender and started calling out to Gareth.

"We don't need to do this."

"You didn't need to lock us up. You didn't need to kill most of our family and friends. You slaughtered them in the night while they were feasting." Gareth called back.

"We were just keeping our people safe, tryin' to survive, just like you."

"Trying to survive hey? Maybe that's what it was at the start but then we discovered that we really like the taste of human flesh."

Shots were fired towards Ricks head, missing him by inches. So we all followed Ricks lead and started opening fire again. We rained bullets down on the Termites and hoped our superior numbers would bring us victory.

"We're gonna eat you raw." Gareth called out. "We're gonna snap your bones and suck out your marrow."

Jane and Carl were against a car next to us, and I could see Janes resolve starting to shake as the Termites taunted us. Carl wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and continued to fire over the trunk of the car with his Beretta.

One of the Termites tried to dodge between two cars and I sent a spray of bullets in his direction and knocked him off his feet. I smiled to myself as I saw blood pooling out under his body. I dropped the smile when I felt an unusual tugging at my jeans. I turned to see Mix was there pulling at me with his tooth hooked into the denim and tearing a new hole.

"What is it boy?"

Mix dropped my pants and started pacing back and forth in front of me. I noticed he was limping and he looked like he was hurt, but I didn't see any blood. He turned away towards the motel and then back to me, his one good eye looked at me like he was trying to tell me something.

I crawled after Mix as he limped away, leaving behind one of the M16s for Rick and the others to use.

Mix limped straight to the back of the motel and I glanced up at the top floor to our open door. I saw Eugene standing there bouncing a crying Judith up and down, and wondered what Beth was doing. I hoped she wasn't trying to play at being badass again. I followed Mix to the back of the motel and watched as he started sniffing at the ground by the fire escape ladder. I looked to the top of the fire escape walkway and saw the mesh from the window of the room Beth and I had stayed in, torn and blowing in the breeze.

_Anton._

I had been so caught up firing at the Termites I didn't even think to check for Anton or Carol. Mix was limping off into the woods. So I grabbed on to my M16 and followed, certain he was trying to track her.

I could see where Beth had run through the woods. She had left a trail of broken branches and crushed leaves and there was even a bit of blood on a couple of branches but it didn't look like it was from a major wound. I stopped to examine a blood covered stick and then heard a soft whimpering. I followed the sound through the bushes and was confronted with a carnival freak show sight that made my body tremble in fury and disgust.

On the ground I could see a three headed, six legged beast. Anton had his knees in the dirt and his pants around his thighs. Around his moving hips I could see a pair of pale white legs caught together at the feet in jeans. Besides them I could see another pair of slender legs in dirty torn jeans. By the side of Anton's stubble covered head I could see Beth's weeping face with a knife pressed to her throat and a thin line of blood running down her neck. On the other side of Beth's face, pressed against her cheek to cheek was the face of Carol.

The M16 slipped from my hand and I stumbled towards the twisted display, dragging out my Busse. Mix snarled and darted back and forth, looking as if he wanted to tear Anton to shreds as much as I did. I grabbed a hold of Anton by the collar of his shirt and tugged him back and down against my chest as I fell to my knees. I forced my knife to his throat mirroring Carol and examined the state of Beth.

I wanted to rip out his throat with my teeth and gut him like a fish. It took all of my will to not saw through Anton's throat at that very moment. Carol still had the knife pressed to Beth's and her wild eyes told me she was capable of anything.

"What are you doing Carol?" I pleaded trying to keep my voice as steady as possible.

"She's his now Daryl. She's his." Carol replied with a sick smile on her face.

"She doesn't want to be his. Look at her she's crying." I looked to Beth's dirty and scratched up weeping, red face, and tried not to cry myself.

"She doesn't know. She doesn't know he loves her like I love you." Carol's crazy eyes darted between Anton's face and my own.

Anton grunted and groaned against me as I held him firmly in place.

"But you're hurting her Carol, and she's like a daughter to you. You don't want to hurt another of your girls do you?"

Carol started wailing and rocking with Beth. The knife was moving back and forth over Beth's skin releasing more blood.

"She's not my daughter, my daughters dead!" Carol shrieked. "She's going to ruin everything, she's going to take you away from me!"

"No she's not Carol, I don't want her, I want you." I lied as convincingly as possible.

"He's lying." Anton choked. "He wants you to let her go so he can kill me. I helped you remember? I helped you when everyone left you."

"Shut the fuck up!" I spat the words into his ear and pressed the knife into his throat so it popped against his skin. He grunted as a drop of blood rolled out and then was silent.

"I ain't lyin' Carol, I love you, not her. She was nothin'. She was just a bit of fun."

Carols eyes looked to Beth and then back to me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's not important, so just let her go, and come to me."

"You'll be mine?"

"Yeah and you'll be mine."

Carol hesitated for a moment, but then she tossed Beth's body to the side and lunged towards me with her arms open wide.

As soon as she had released Beth I pressed the blade further into Anton's throat and felt the knife shudder in my hands as it sliced through tissue and cartilage. I tossed his spluttering body to the ground as Carol landed in my arms.

My eyes shifted to Beth who had rolled on to her back and was tugging up her jeans. Mix pawed on to her and licked away the tears and dirt from her face and Beth's trembling hands clutched on to his dirty white fur. My mind wasn't there when Carol started kissing me, and my mind wasn't there when she started tearing at my clothes. My Busse trembled in my hand as I relived the sight of Carol holding Beth down while Anton raped her. The blood dripping from the wound in Beth's neck was still glistening red in my mind's eye. Killing Carol was the last thing I thought of doing when I woke up this morning, but she was too far gone. After what she had done there was nothing I could do to save her.

The clinking of metal brought me out of my thoughts of blood and vengeance to see that Carol was tugging at my belt. I put my hands on top of hers to still her.

"We can't do it here, she's watching us." I said motioning to Beth as she lay there shaking and crying, with only Mix to comfort her. I knew what needed to be done, but my hands were trembling so much I could barely even grip the knife.

Carol glanced over her shoulder towards Beth and then looked back to me.

"We have to kill her you know. She'll just get in the way." She murmured in to my ear.

"I know." I replied looking into Beth's terrified eyes. I turned my face to Carol's and looked into the blue eyes of the woman I once loved as if she were my own flesh and blood. "We have to kill her."

I lifted my Busse into the air and slammed it into Carols back, forcing it between her ribs until it was buried to the hilt. Carols hot blood spat out on to my hand and I watched her eyes as they widened in shock.

Carol let out a whistling gasp and collapsed in my arms. I dropped my Busse to the dirt and then rolled her back so I could look down on her face.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, lost for words to say to a woman who was once a dear friend, but was now something else entirely.

Carol was gasping for air and choking on her own blood. As I watched her chest shudder as it struggled to rise and fall, my own chest grew tight with the swelling of fierce emotion. I was angry at her for what she did, I was angry at myself for not helping her sooner. I was angry at the world for making me be the one who had to kill her. I wept tears of rage and sorrow as I felt her life seep out from the back of her shirt and cling to my arm in a warm sticky mess.

She weakly lifted her hand and brushed the hair away from my face using the tips of her ice cold fingers.

"Everything…works out…the way…it's supposed to." She gasped.

Carols chest creaked and rattled and then with a final long sigh she went limp in my arms.

I let Carol's dead weight slip from my hands and roll onto the dirt in front of my knees. I lifted my eyes to Beth who was warily crawling over to me with her eyes flicking back and forth between the still bodies of her attackers.

I opened my arms for her and she wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her head in my lap. I gripped her by the shoulders and held her to me melding her shuddering sobs with my own until we heard the guttural gasps of Anton.

Beth grabbed for my knife and gripping it with two hands she lunged towards him landing with the blade embedded in his skull. She crawled to her knees beside him and yanked the knife back out so she could slam it back down again. She repeated this until his pretty face had crushed into chasms of bone, blood, skin and tissue.

While she took care of Anton I took up Carol's blade and forced it through the side of her skull. Looking down on her still face, I could make out the hint of a smile on her blood covered lips.

…

It took me an hour to dig a grave for Carol. I had nothing but my knife and sticks to loosen the dirt and I didn't want any help from Beth. Beth was the one who had just been raped. She was the one who was a victim of ultimate betrayal by someone she loved and trusted. But she was still there supporting _me_ and telling _me_ it would all be okay.

"I should be taking care of you." I told her as she rubbed over my sweat soaked flannel, while standing behind me.

"I'm more upset about Carol than Anton." She replied, looking down on the mound of dirt that covered Carol's shallow grave.

"That wasn't Carol."

"I know." She let out a deep sigh and then put her chin to my shoulder. "That's why I'm upset."

I put my dirty, bloody, nail broken hands to her hand on my other shoulder and turned my face to her cheek and kissed her. The girl was amazing. Even after what Carol had just put her through she was still able to see the person behind the monster.

We stood looking over her grave for a few moments until Mix started growling, alerting us to walkers approaching. I bent to allow Beth to jump on my back and I hooked my arms around her legs and gripped on to the M16 behind my back for extra support. I walked off towards the motel with Beth's dirty and bloody feet dangling by my side and with Mix by my boots still limping. We left Anton's mangled corpse to rot in the sun.

…

When we got back to the motel it was eerily quiet. I jogged to the front hoping that we wouldn't be faced with the still, dead bodies of our family. Or worse, the walking dead bodies of our family. When we got there the first thing we noticed was the minivans were gone. I stopped and let Beth off my back and gave my tight muscles a stretch. I scanned over the parking lot and then stepped towards the body of the female walker that had been pinned under the bike. I grabbed the vest that lay by her side, gave it a shake and then opened it out for Beth. Beth smiled weakly up at me and then slipped her arms through and adjusted it over her shoulders.

As much as I liked Beth being soft and gentle, she was going to need a bit of toughness to survive in this world, and she did look cute in leather.

I grabbed Beth's chin between my thumb and forefinger and tipped her face up to kiss her on the lips. Then I made for the gas station where I had last seen everyone, and Beth dashed upstairs to check the rooms.

I paced around the battlefield of the gas station checking out the bodies that lay on the bitumen. Most of the Termites were dead, but a couple were missing, including Gareth. I breathed a sigh of relief when I had checked every fallen body and none of them were our own people. I lost the sense of relief when Mix started growling and a body emerged from behind a fire damaged and bullet ridden car. It stumbled towards me moaning with outstretched fingers grasping at the air. I recognised the blonde hair and slight build of the kid, Jason. He had been shot, judging by the wound in his chest, but no one had put him down before he turned. The plucky kid had wanted to save the world and got himself killed in the process. I stepped forward and ended him with a knife blow to the head, and eased his body to the ground. I pulled out the knife that was still in his sheath and placed it on his lifeless chest and pressed his dead fingers around it. He at least deserved a hero's honour.

Beth raced over to me where I stood over Jason's body. She was wearing her boots and carrying the Airborne and Stryker and our bags. She told me the rooms were all empty and everyone's stuff was gone. She examined the bodies on the ground and I could see her lips move as she counted each one.

"They left us?" She said turning to me.

"Looks like it."

"Why would they do that?" Her face looked even more distraught now than it did an hour ago.

"They know I got the bike runnin', and they know you're safe with me."

She forced a smile on to her sad face and nodded in agreement.

We made our way back to the garage and put our gear into the saddlebags. I straddled the bike and balanced it while Beth climbed on to the pillion behind me. I pulled out the kicker and gave it a push. It roared to life first try and Beth clutched on to my waist at the shock of the sound and movement. Mix stood at the side of the bike and looked up at us and begged with his one good eye.

"C'mon boy, hop on." I patted the space on the seat in front of me.

Mix jumped up under my arm, rested his furry butt in between my legs and gave me a lick on the face. I pushed my feet on the ground and rolled the bike down to the road looking in both directions.

"Which way?" Beth called over the noise of the motor.

"To Washington." I called back.

"Gareth is still alive, and Jason is dead, they may have gone back to Terminus to check on everyone and take Jane home."

I pulled out my bandanna from the pocket of my jeans and tied it over my face.

"That's the only way onward." I called to her nodding my head towards the road. I revved the bike, lifted my feet and turned out on to the road in the direction I nodded. Beth gripped firmly around my waist and pressed her head against my shoulder, as we followed the road to Washington.

* * *

**AN: So Daryl gets a bike, a girl and a dog. I am too good to him.**

**I know NOTHING about motorcycles. The only reason I knew a 'fatboy' existed was 'cause a friend owned one. If the motorcycle stuff is all wrong, please correct me and I'll fix it up.**

**So this is the end…..**

**No not really, I have already planned about another 10 chapters for Part III. Not sure how people will receive it after this 'finale' so let's say when I get to X amount o followers I'll continue on. (Maybe 2 more, maybe 20) So share the hell outta this story if you want more.**

**It will still be full of grit, grime and gloom, but I promise no one will rape Beth. There will be some very lovely moments between the pair and we'll get to see both a softer and more dangerous side of Daryl. Here is the synopsis for Part III:**

**_"Daryl and Beth are separated from the others on the way to Washington. They find a place among angels, and confront demons from their past"_**

**Thankyou for all your support and lovely comments xxx**

**I'm going to TRY to mess around on tumblr in the meantime. 'the walking deth' (I found out you can make more than one blog)**


	25. What Remains

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter 1**

**What Remains**

Daryl's back was firm as an old oak and warm as the summer sun. It should have made me feel secure. He smelt of stale sweat, leather and charred tobacco. It should have been familiar. The steady rumble of the bike vibrated through my bones, and thrummed through my chest. It should have been comforting. Even the feel of Mix's matted fur against the back of my knuckles should have been soothing. But I felt uneasy, lost, and alone.

I had tried not to cry for the sake of Daryl. I had tucked my trembling lip between my teeth and forced my cheeks up in to a smile. I had hid the shaking of my hands by pretending I was scared of slipping, and gripped on to the leather around his waist with all the force I had in my fragile body. I had tried to be strong as he dealt with the loss of Carol, and with what he had to do, and what he had to witness, but as soon as his back was to me, my resolve started to quaver. With my face pressed in to his back I had to let the tears free; running hot and wet and plentiful down my cheeks. I was grateful for his leather vest and layers of flannel that would keep my tears off his skin, and the vibration of the bike would hopefully mask my gentle sobs.

We had been riding along an almost empty road surrounded on both sides by either dense woodland or ghost towns. We had come across the odd abandoned car, and wandering walker who would make feeble lunges towards us, and be flung to the ground by the motion of the bike or by Daryl's outstretched boot. We had passed through North Carolina according to the sign I had seen some hours ago, and were now somewhere in Virginia according to the sign I had seen most recently, yet the landscape still looked like home. With little sign of human life.

We were about half an hour past the last sign when Daryl started to slow the bike, easing back the throttle and applying the brake with his dirt and blood encrusted hands. As soon as we were slow enough for me to release my grip, I wiped the tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater and tried to practice a few smiles so I could be prepared for when he stopped the bike and turned to face me.

When he had stopped he put his boots flat to the ground on either side of the bike to steady it and then tugged down on his bandana, revealing a line of dirt across his face when he turned towards me. He rubbed across his face smearing the dirt along his cheeks and rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger to remove the grit that had made its way in during the ride.

"Need some mothafuckin' shades." He grumbled.

When he was done cleaning his eyes he cupped his hands together and blew into them as if they were cold. The air _was_ quite cold out here. It was colder than it had been back at South Carolina, or at home in Georgia. I had been too pre-occupied to notice, and even now I felt numb to it all.

Daryl glanced back at me with his blue eyes flicking back and forth as they studied my face. I tucked my lip in under my teeth once more while he watched me, and hoped he couldn't tell I had been crying.

"Why are we stoppin' in the middle of nowhere?" I asked releasing my lip and forcing a cheerful tone into my voice.

His left eye squinted a little in response to my question, as if he could see through the false tone.

"I don't think they came this way." He tore his eyes away from mine and glanced back to the open road.

"What makes you say that?"

"I been thinkin' it for a while now. At the speed I'm goin' I would've caught 'em by now."

"Maybe they did go back to Terminus."

"They wouldn't have gone back. Abraham wouldn't've let them. Gettin' Eugene to DC was more important to him than anythin' else."

"Which way would they have gone then?"

Daryl looked forward down the long stretch of road and then turned in his seat and looked back.

"Can't say. Wish I had a studied them maps more, don't know my way 'round these parts. Maybe they went back to the eighty five at the first turn off, or maybe they went north."

I chewed on the side of my lip, a little anxious about being separated from the others again.

"What should we do?"

Daryl blew a long breathe through puckered lips as he thought it over. "I guess we keep goin. We know where they're headin'."

Daryl looked back to me and started examining my face again. I lowered my eyes hoping he couldn't read my thoughts.

"Are you okay?"

I scoffed and shrugged and forced a smile.

"Yeah I'm okay, just need a bathroom break I think."

I swung my leg out and stepped of the bike, and gave my numb backside a few smacks to wake it up.

"Okay I'll come keep watch." Daryl kicked out the stand and went to swing his own leg back over the bike. I put my hand on top of his thigh to still him.

"No, it's okay, I'd prefer if you didn't. Some things a girl has to keep private you know."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow and his lips skewed into a sideways grin.

"You know I saw everythin' those first few days we were out after the prison, don't ya?"

I shrugged. "I know, but you don't have to now. I'll take Mix with me."

At the sound of his name Mix started whimpering and wagging his tail, and trying to lick me over Daryl's shoulder. He was probably ready for a bathroom break himself after sitting on the bike for so long.

Daryl gave Mix a rub on the scruff of his neck, and then Mix jumped off the bike to stand at my side.

"Just don't go too far." Daryl said while eyeing me up and down. He reached into the saddle bag and pulled out his patterned poncho.

"Throw this on. It's colder than a polar bear's tits out 'ere." He bunched it up around the collar and then went to loop it over my head and I flinched involuntarily at his movement. He frowned at me and then proceeded it tug it down and arrange it over my shoulders.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked with one eyebrow cocked.

I nodded my head and pressed my lips together trying to hold back a sob, and hoped it looked something like a smile. Daryl nodded his head slowly with doubt in his eyes and then turned around, and reached into the pocket of his flannel shirt.

While he pulled out a cigarette and tried to light it I dashed off into the tree growth with Mix at my side. Mix was still limping a little after he was hit by Anton. I couldn't tell if he had landed wrong and injured his leg, or if Anton had caused some kind of cranial damage that was making him unsteady on his feet. As soon as we got to Washington I would have to use some of the veterinary skills I had picked up helping daddy, and try to examine him.

I walked until I was out of ear shot of Daryl and then ducked behind a large oak tree. I dropped my bag off my shoulder and leaned against the rough bark and let my body slide down with the bark catching and snapping against the poncho. I wrapped my arms around my knees and then tucked my chin to my chest and started sobbing.

I needed some chest rattling, shoulder heaving, body shaking sobs. In this world we lived in, bad things happen, and you're not supposed to get upset. But I _was_ upset. I felt humiliated and violated and weak. All I had wanted to do since Daryl had dragged Anton off me was curl up into a ball and cry, but I tried to stay strong because I didn't want Daryl to see me this way. The last thing I needed was for him to see the damage that was done. I knew he would blame himself, just like he did for everything else. I couldn't have him blaming himself for what happened. I wasn't strong enough to make him feel better. I couldn't even do that for myself.

Mix was sitting by my side watching me with his one good eye and what looked like a doggy frown on my face. He was the perfect companion. He would just sit with you while you cried and not ask you to explain yourself, not ask for anything in return for his presence. He would just be with you.

"You're a good boy." I said between sobs and scratched him behind his ear.

Mix whimpered in response and then gave my hand a lick. Then his scraggily ear shot in to the air like he could hear something.

I rubbed my eyes and then reached into my boot, prying my fingers between the woollen sock and the leather lining and pulling out my switch blade. I suspected it was walkers, but Mix didn't growl like he normally did. He just stood silent staring into nothingness with his ears pricked and twitching every few seconds. Then, without an obvious reason, he darted off away from me, suddenly free of his limp.

"Mixy?" I called after him.

He didn't even turn towards my call. I grabbed my bag and propelled myself off the oak and stumbled forward over the roots and leaves to chase him. I ran after him for several yards watching carefully where he kicked up the dirt, before deciding to turn back before I got lost. I raced back towards the road and slammed into Daryl's chest as I rounded the oak I had been resting against before.

"Whoa why're you runnin'?" Daryl pushed me behind him with one hand then pulled an arrow from his quiver and raised his bow, ready to shoot whatever he thought I was running from.

"Mix ran off." I choked the words out while catching my breath.

Daryl's eyebrows raised. He was as surprised as I was.

"Not like 'im to run off for no good reason."

"You think maybe he picked up on the scent of the others?"

"Mmm, maybe. Or maybe Timmy's stuck down a well."

I turned back to where Mix had disappeared. "Can we follow Mix on the bike?"

Daryl looked up into the darkening sky, and I followed his eyes. It was past dusk now and it would be dangerous riding in the dark. If we drove head on into a herd of walkers, not even the speed and motion of the bike could save us.

"We can have a look until it gets dark. Then we better make camp ourselves." Daryl started backing towards the bike.

I glanced back over my shoulder to where I last saw Mix and then turned back to follow Daryl.

Daryl rode the bike slowly and carefully through the woodland, trying to avoid thick tree roots, ditches on the earth and low hanging branches. We couldn't follow Mix's path directly as he had cut through bushes several times, but it wasn't hard to find his trail. He had left behind a trademark pattern of tossed leaves and mud. We followed the trail until the trees cleared and we came to the back of a weathered timber home on a small property.

Daryl rode the bike around the side of the property and down a rough gravel driveway until we came to another road. He stopped the bike there and put his feet back to the ground, and started pushing along slowly against the asphalt while examining the road. His head was moving slowly back and forth and a frown was pasted on his face.

"What's wrong?" I called over the sound of the motor.

"Lost the trail."

He looked both ways down the street, and then lifted his hand to point into the distance. I followed the direction of his finger to see that we were at the base of softly sloping hill. Higher up on the hill was a cluster of buildings that looked to be a small town.

"You think Rick and the others are there?" I called.

"Guess we'll find out." He applied the throttle and lifted his boots, and we made our way towards the town.

When the buildings started to clutter together more closely, he stopped the bike again and turned off the engine. He asked me to get off so he could roll it, being wary of the attention he was attracting from the odd walker we had passed. I obeyed and dismounted the bike and followed along beside him while he scanned the buildings. He came to a sideway with a few overgrown bushes obscuring the view and he rolled the bike into a bush to hide it.

He handed me the crossbow and then took his backpack out from the saddlebag and swung it onto his back. Then he grabbed the rifle and the bow and swung them over his shoulder too.

When he was all packed up and ready to go he examined my face again.

"Don't worry. We'll find him." He attempted to reassure me.

I was worried about Mix, but that wasn't the emotion Daryl could see in my eyes. He put his hand to my shoulder and I flinched again at the touch. He frowned a little and then dipped his head so he could look in my eyes.

"Beth, you gotta keep your head, we don't know what's gonna be roamin' these streets."

I nodded and forced a smile.

We went through some of the houses that lined the street scavenging for food or anything else we could use. Daryl collected empty cans and kitchen utensils, things that he could use to make an alarm. At the back of one home, Daryl cut a piece of plastic coated cord from the clothes line and rummaged through a pile of scrap metal out near the shed. I filled our water bottles from the well pump and then splashed some of the cold water on my face and wished for a long hot shower. Then I searched through the overgrown vegetable patch at the back of the garden to see if there was anything that hadn't been eaten by the pests. There were a few cabbages and carrots so I put my crossbow down and started digging them up, shaking of the dirt and forcing them into my bag along with everything else we had found. I examined some of the new shoots that were starting to grow, and I smiled as I thought about how the vegetable garden was still continuing to grow and live on even after it had lost all maintenance and management, and I wondered if it would be the same for human kind too.

I was busy lost in my thoughts about the world that had fallen into anarchy, and I didn't smell the decay or hear the snarling until it was right by my ear. I dove to the ground and rolled into the cabbages as the walker lunged towards me. My bow was too far out of reach, and I had forgotten to load it after Daryl handed it to me so I reached into my boot for my knife, while the walkers gnashing jaws fell towards me.

I was about to swing out at the walkers rotting face when a string of clothesline was looped around the walkers neck and it was yanked back forcefully to the ground. Daryl stepped over it and smashed his boot down into its face until its skull gave way and it was finally still. Then he gave it a few more angry stomps that did little but splatter blood and gore over my face.

I scrambled to my feet and wiped the muck off my face while Daryl glared at me angrily.

"Jeez Greene, I told ya to keep your head." He growled.

I just stared at him blankly, not knowing how to respond. His face softened as he looked over me.

"Jus' be careful okay." He turned away from me and stalked back to his junk pile.

In all the houses we had come across that day we had only found a handful of weak and wandering walkers. We figured they had been there for a long time. By the look of the place it had been evacuated in the early days of the outbreak. There was no sign anyone had been through here recently, not even Rick and the others.

"We best get back to the bike." Daryl said as we made our way back to the main road.

"But we're only a few minutes out of town. That's probably were Mix went, and it might be where the others are."

"Yeah, an' prob'ly more dead too." He looked me over from head to toe. "We'll go in tomorrow after you've rested some."

We made our way back to where we had left the bike earlier and Daryl looked for a house that was somewhat secure, and then we took all of our stuff inside ready to spend the night there. Daryl rigged up the alarm and checked the boards that were nailed to the window and added more nails where necessary. I built a fire in the fire place and went looking for a pot and can opener so I could make some dinner. I checked the stove in the kitchen to find that no gas was connected and I wished we had chosen one of the houses that had a gas tank out back. I ended up taking the pot to the living room to heat it up over the fire. Daryl went into one of the bedrooms and dragged a mattress out and dumped it onto the floor beside the fire, and I found myself cringing at the thought of sharing the mattress with him. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to be near him, because I did, but I was scared he would touch me in an intimate way, and the thought turned my stomach.

Daryl dropped heavily down to the mattress sending dust motes swirling into the air. He sat with his crossed legs hanging off the edge of the mattress and watched me as I picked at the pot of beans. When I couldn't force myself to eat any more I handed him the pot and the fork I had been using and he took them gratefully and started shovelling beans into his mouth without taking a second to breathe.

The sight of it would normally have made me laugh, but I just watched him carefully while he slurped and slopped and rubbed his dirty arm across his sauce covered lips. When he was done he pushed the pot to the side, then stared at me with his interrogatory blue eyes.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, and I don't want you lyin' to me… Are you okay?"

I stared at him for a moment trying to think of the right answer. Anything _but_ a lie was going to turn him into a self-abusive jackass.

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth." He shifted towards me and I found myself scooting backward across the floor. His eyes narrowed at my movement and then he let out a long sigh. "I know you been cryin' since we left the motel. I _don't_ know why you been tryna hide it from me."

We both sat in silence for a few moments while I pouted and studied the fire dancing in the fire place.

"I'm not okay." I finally admitted.

I glanced back at Daryl to see he was watching me intently with his fingers dancing anxiously from his hands resting against knees.

"What can I do?"

"I don't know." I replied with a shrug.

"Maybe if you…tell me what you're feelin'?"

What I was feeling? As I focused on all the mixed up emotions that were brewing inside, my resolve began to crumble and tears bubble to the surface.

"I feel like shit." I let out a sob and I could feel tears spilling from my eyes and dripping from my nose all at once. I snuffled and then wiped at my face with my sweater. "I feel weak and powerless." I added with another sniff.

I could almost hear the cogs turning over in his brain as he thought of something to say to me. "I know." Was his response.

I scoffed. "You wouldn't know what it's like to have someone overpower you. To have someone make you feel like you're nothin'. You're the strongest person I know."

Daryl was silent for a few moments before muttering. "I _do_ know."

I was about to argue with him before my mind was able to fight through the haze of my own misery and recall the scars all over his body and the deep scars on his back. I had seen them several times over the past few weeks, but he had only discussed them briefly while we were staying at the house in the pecan grove. His daddy had beat him, and beat him bad judging by the marks that were left behind. He said it didn't hurt anymore, but he obviously still remembered the way it hurt back then.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"Yeah you should. It's my fault." He stared into the fire and started clenching and unclenching his hands. "I shoulda killed Anton, I shoulda dealt with Carol, I shoulda…"

"Don't!" I shrieked suddenly. The sound was a shock to me and Daryl jumped at the sudden urgency in my voice.

"Don't what?" He mumbled when he had recovered some.

"Don't start blaming yourself! You go somewhere dark when you blame yourself." I let out a few sobs. "I can't do it! I can't look after you right now!"

Daryl studied me with wide eyes while I sobbed and sniffed and rubbed at my face with my sleeves.

"I don't want you to look after me, Beth." He shuffled towards me and this time I didn't flinch away. "I just wish I coulda looked after _you_."

"Well you couldn't do anythin'…. It's done… there's no goin' back."

I continued to sob and Daryl continued to watch me, hovering beside me like he was ready to pounce.

"You need to tell me what I can do _now_, Beth." His voice was gruff and strained.

I didn't know what to tell him. I didn't know _what_ he could do, or _if_ he could do anything. So I just kept sobbing.

He reached his hands towards me and then pulled them back and ran them through his long hair. "Fuck I can't even hold you."

"Why not?" I let out a sniffle while I studied his rough and dirty hands tangled though his hair. He let them slide through and then pressed them down into the mattress.

"'Cause…you know."

I did know. He had barely touched me since he had seen Anton...there. He had held me for the briefest of moments after Carol had been killed, and since then he had only touched me when it was necessary. I was damaged goods to him. More damaged than I had been when Len had tried to… or when Anton had tried the first time. He would never want to be intimate with me again, and it scared me because I didn't think that was such a bad thing.

"You don't _want_ to touch me now?" I mumbled.

Daryl scoffed and then reached out and grabbed me firmly by the upper arms.

"No, that's not it, just every time I've…and last time…you kinda freaked on me."

"That was different." I sobbed and thought back to when Daryl had crawled on top of me and held me down. He had scared me then because it made me feel powerless, and it made me realise how easily Daryl _could_ hurt me if he wanted to. But I knew Daryl never would hurt me. He had taken care of me for weeks, and even before that he had taken care of all of us. I knew I was safe with him, and I knew I could trust him. I probably hadn't been giving him the best signals by drawing away every time he touched me, but it was a reflex I would need to learn to control.

"I _need_ you to hold me Daryl."

He pulled me into his chest with a force that expelled all the air from my lungs and wrapped both of his arms around me tightly, and I sobbed into his shoulder while he rocked me back and forth.

"Maybe I can run you another bath tomorrow." He whispered into my ear when my sobs had started to settle.

My lips curled into a true smile when he said that, thinking of the bath he had run for me back at the pecan grove, after Len had tried to…

"I don't think a bath will help this time." I wish it was as simple as last time. I wish Daryl could just run hot water and soap all over me and it would take the pain away. But no amount of cleaning was going to rid the stains that had been left on me this time.

"I ain't no Dr Phil, and I don't know no pretty words to make you feel better." He stroked along my back and shoulders soothingly. "But if you wanna talk, I'll listen. If you wanna cry, there's a spot 'ere with your name on it." He nodded towards the shoulder I was resting on. "If you want me to hold you, I won't let you go 'til you say so."

"Those are the prettiest words I've ever heard." I mumbled into his shoulder.

He chuckled lightly. "I still ain't no Dr Phil."

I let myself relax into his comforting warmth, inhaling his soothingly familiar smell, feeling the strength in the arms and shoulders and chest that I was hard up against. If Daryl kept holding me like he said he would, I knew I would get better.

"I love you."

I caught my breath after I had said it, wary of what Daryl's reaction would be. I had known the way I felt for a while, but I had never told Daryl directly.

He didn't say anything at first. His body tensed up and he held his breath, and I felt a sense of rejection twist through me.

Daryl leaned away from me and started wriggling his hips up and down while he pushed his hand down into the back pocket of his jeans.

A fold of paper emerged griped between his middle and index finger. He pulled on it until it sprung free and then he held it out for me. I took the piece of crumpled and torn paper and spread it out in my hand to see it was the silly, childish note I had written back at Terminus; The one with all the love hearts and 'Beth Anne Dixon' written on it.

"You kept it?" I covered my face in embarrassment. I had been worried someone else had found that note when it first went missing. I thought it may have been Carol who snuck into our room and found it, and wondered if it had set her off. Knowing that Daryl had been carrying it around, most likely thinking how immature I was, it made me cringe. Was he going to tease me now about saying I love him?

"Turn it over." He spun his finger around in the air.

I turned it over to see writing in a hand that wasn't my own. It read _'I love you too.'_

My hand trembled as I read it over and over again. It would have to be either the cutest or most romantic thing he had ever done. Daryl was not the type to come right out and tell you he loved you, but I think him putting it in writing and carrying it around in his back pocket meant more than spoken words ever could.

I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest and dwelled in the warmth and strength of the man that loved me.

* * *

Daryl's body jerking violently beside me and then clamouring to its feet was what startled me awake. I shot up and watched him as he grabbed for the rifle and went for the doorway. I knew now what it was that had brought him to his feet so quickly. I could hear the tin cans from his alarm rattling outside the door. Before passing through the doorway he turned to me and pointed a commanding finger at me.

"You stay there." He demanded protectively.

I reached for the crossbow and put my foot in the stirrup and strained to pull the string back to the latch. I only got it about half way then I had to roll on my back and push my foot in to the air to finish the job.

I heard a familiar bark and excited panting and I quickly rolled to my feet, knowing who was at the door.

With the crossbow in my hand I raced to the front door to see Daryl sitting on the floorboards with Mix jumping all over him and licking his face.

"Mixy!" I cried, dropping the bow, falling to my knee and opening my arms out for him. He bounded straight into my arms, knocking me onto my backside, and started licking my face.

"Where you been boy?" Daryl said as he got back on his feet and then walked towards Mix and I and started scratching Mix behind the ear.

Mix responded by barking, spinning in a circle and then padding back to the front door and poking his nose outside. I looked up to Daryl and noticed for the first time the dark circles under his eyes and his generally haggard appearance and I wondered if he had slept at all last night.

"Think he wants us to follow?" I asked.

Daryl nodded at me and then went back into the living area to grab his bow and the bags.

We followed Mix down the worn timber stairs and out the rusted chain link gate. Then Mix started bounding down the empty street kicking up mud in his wake. He stopped around fifty yards away, turned to us and waited for us to catch up.

"I'm gon' get the bike." Daryl raced to the next house over and ducked down the sideway to where he had hidden the bike. I watched Mix as he paced back and forth impatiently in the road. I heard the bike start up and Daryl slid out around the corner. He stopped beside me and I put the crossbow on my shoulder and climbed on the back.

We followed Mix, riding as slow as we could on the bike, as he raced down the street heading into town. We passed by a line of stores, a gas station a bowling alley and a diner and headed towards a parking lot that fronted onto a three level building that sprawled in both directions down the street. The building backed on to a tree covered hill and looking down from our position I could see the small properties Daryl and I had come across yesterday. The woodland that ran behind the school was joined to the woodland that was behind the properties, and it was obvious that this is where Mix had been heading that whole time.

At the end of the parking lot was a high iron bared and brick pillared fence that surrounded the main building. When we were close enough I could make out the words on the sign that was attached to one of the large brick pillars at the gate to the building. It read _'Green Mount Centre for Applied Technology.'_ with _'Parans Futura'_ written below.

"Some kinda fancy science lab?" Daryl asked while looking over the futuristic looking building, built with cantilevers, curved brick and an overabundance of glass.

The windows were covered in faded drawing and paintings, and over to the side of the building I could spot play equipment.

"I think it's some kind of school."

Mix had been waiting at the gate, but as we got closer he dove down into a small pre-dug hole that went under the gate, and he ran up the stairs and disappeared inside the school.

Daryl stopped the bike several yards back from the huge wrought iron posted gate that barred us entry and we both eyed over the half dozen walkers that had been pressing themselves against the sections of iron fence that ran between brick pillars. They had turned as the bike got closer and were now stumbling towards us.

Daryl shut the bike off where it stood. He pulled out his bow and shot five of the walkers down. I shot the last with the crossbow and then I dismounted the bike so Daryl could wheel it towards the gate.

As I followed slowly behind Daryl, I heard the familiar snarls and growls growing louder behind me. I turned to see another five walkers idling towards us who must have followed us through the town. I put the crossbow to the ground to reload it and started tugging at the string while grunting and straining. Daryl saw me struggle with it so he kicked out the stand, dismounted, strode over to me and took the crossbow off me. He finished the job of loading it and fired it into the nearest walker. He reloaded and fired three more times before handing me back the empty crossbow then he unsheathed his knife to finish the last walker with a blow to the ear.

I pouted a little when he turned around to face me, feeling like I had a toy confiscated off me for not using it properly.

"They were getting close." He reasoned.

He went around and collected the arrows, rubbing them down with his red rag, and handed me five to put into my quiver and then went back to the bike that was waiting by the gate.

The gate had a drop rod in the ground, and a thick plastic coated chain wrapped around it, but it wasn't locked, so Daryl unbolted it, unwrapped it and opened the gate so I could enter and Daryl followed with the bike. Once he had set the bike up he went back to the gate and wrapped the chain loosely back around it and slid the drop rod into the ground.

I stood back and examined the fortress type fence that surrounded the school. Each section of fence was about five yards wide, and attached to a thick column of red brick that looked as though it would take a herd of a hundred or more walkers to push over. It also had razor wire wrapped around the lower sections of the fence that was rusted and stained with what I assumed to be blood. The razor wire looked as if it had been a secondary addition for added security, but it was already a very secure fence. I turned back to the building and noted the lower floor windows were covered with iron bars too.

"Why does a school need so much security?" I asked no one in particular.

Daryl looked up at the gate and then to the school taking in the bars on the windows.

"There's alotta valuable shit in a school. Especially one like this. Computers, television sets, cameras. And there's a heap of shit in the science rooms you can sell or use to cook with."

"Cook what?" I didn't think he was talking about cupcakes.

"Meth, Coke, pills choose your poison."

I frowned as I realised just what kind of poison they were.

"How do you know all this?"

Daryl stepped away from the gate and looked at me with a guilty expression on his face.

"I weren't no saint. An' you know it."

I pulled my eyes away from his serious glare and tried not to think too much on what he was trying to tell me.

I looked toward the overgrown courtyard and the large concrete steps that led up to big glass paned doors. The panes were knocked out of the bottom panels and were now covered by timber boards, but one hung loosely and I could see Mix sitting on the linoleum floor behind it. As I approached, Mix dashed down the corridor and out of sight.

"You think the others are inside?" I asked turning to Daryl. They may have seen how secure it was and thought to spend the night here.

Daryl frowned and looked around at the courtyard and at the car park outside the gate.

"I ain't seen the minivans, but maybe they hid 'em."

Daryl jogged up the steps, put his arm through the opening in the door, reached upwards and unlocked the door. Then he pushed it open and held it so I could pass through.

The dust motes danced and twirled though the entry foyer to the school, illuminated by the upper two levels of glass windows. The lower level had been boarded up with panels of wood nailed together to create one continuous barrier. There were chairs and tables pushed up against doors and the floor was covered in books, files and worn and faded paper. The air smelt a little of mildew but was relatively pleasant and without a hint of walker decay.

We walked down the entry foyer and under a flight of stairs until we came to a T junction. Along the wall was a huge cabinet full of trophies and plaques and photographs of older men and women. Running down the length of the hall were more photographs of groups of people standing in regimental lines who varied in age from kindergarteners to those who looked more my own age. They all smiled out towards me, frozen in a permanent state of happiness and oblivious to what their future held.

Mix came darting out from one of the smaller corridors and barked and then turned back around beckoning for us to follow. Daryl nocked an arrow on his bow string with ease and I strained to load the crossbow while he mockingly flexed his bicep and nodded towards it.

I followed Daryl as he cautiously made his way down the corridor stopping at every classroom we passed and peering inside the glass pane in the door. They were all empty save for chairs and tables and cabinets lined with books. At the end of the corridor were big double doors with '_Gymnasium'_ painted overhead, and _'God forgive us'_ painted in spray paint on the doors. Mix had his nose to the floor and was pawing at the bottom of the door with his tail wagging though the air.

We stepped forward cautiously, and I wondered if Mix was leading us towards friend or foe.

"Do you think they committed suicide in there?" I asked glancing over to Daryl.

"I don't think he would lead us to a bunch of dead people, but…" Daryl pointed to the door handles that had two brooms crossed through them like an ancient coat of arms. "Someone tried to keep something in there…or something out."

Walking up to the doors I could hear a low and light sound that was merging in with Mix's soft whimpers.

"Doggy, doggy." Came a tiny, angelic voice.

I looked to the clearance space between the door and the floor and saw that Mix was licking at the the tiny, pale fingers of a child's hand.

* * *

**AN: Sorry no smut for a few chapters. Beth has her reasons. But Daryl has told her he loves her in his own awkward way, so hopefully that'll keep the feels going for a little bit.**

**Sorry for waiting so long to update, had family stuff to do. :)**


	26. Trail of Tears

**AN:"The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope." ~Daryl Dixon**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter II**

**Trail of Tears**

"It's a child."

Beth dropped to her knees on the floor beside Mix and stared at the gap under the door. I could see it too, tiny little fingers not much bigger than lil' ass kickers. Then I heard another voice that was Harder and grainier than the first, but still sounded young.

"It's a stranger."

I could just make out a small blue eyed face through all the dirt and dust in the door's narrow window pane. As soon as our eyes connected the face disappeared and I could hear faint squeals from behind the door.

I pushed Beth's shoulder and she scooted off to the side so I could pull out the two brooms that were crossed through the door handles, barricading the door. I swung both the doors open to a two level high gym that was flooded with light, streaming in from high windows that ran around the top level of the room. The gym looked like a tornado ravaged town, filled with dozens of cot beds and curtain screens, plastic tubs, crates, suitcases, medical equipment, spotlights and other bits and pieces, all scattered about chaotically. It was also filled with the god awful smell of rot and decay. I walked into the room carefully wondering where the kids we had seen had gone and where the smell of death was coming from.

Mix bounded over to a line of beds that were piled up against a wall like a makeshift fort made with sheets and blankets. Mix was sniffing and pawing at the sheets and I could make out the form of at least three lumpy bodies under the cloth.

"You can come out, we're not gonna hurt you." Beth urged.

The only response was a harsh shushing. Beth stepped towards me and put a hand on top of my hand that had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. I didn't even realise I had raised the bow, it was a natural instinct. I lowered the bow and eased on the string, and hoped that it was only living kids we were dealing with.

"This is Daryl, and my name's Beth." Beth continued to ease her way forward towards the bed fort.

Mix had decided he had enough of playing hide and seek and he grabbed one of the sheets in his jaws and started pulling back on it.

"No doggy, no." Came a soft bell like voice.

"Shut up, Marie." Whispered the same grainy voice I had heard before.

Then a scruffy looking brown haired, blue eyed kid popped out from under the sheet. He was younger than Carl, probably about ten years old, but he was so skinny it was hard to say for sure. He was holding a small knife in one hand, and pulling on the sheet Mix was tugging on with the other. The kid's skinny twig arms gave way and Mix tore off the sheet to reveal another two children, filthy, thin and terrified.

"Looks like its Timmy, Tommy and Sarah-May down in that well." I commented turning to a shocked looking Beth.

Beth gasped and put her hand to her mouth, then she fell to her knees and stared below the bed that the children had been hiding on top of. I stooped down to see what she was looking at and found another three children, pale, dirty and trembling in fear.

Then like ants from a pissed on hill, kids started coming out from all over the place.

"Shit." I hissed under my breath. I couldn't think of any other smart ass remark.

The kids all huddled around the kid with the knife, glaring at Beth and I through wary eyes, shaded by dark sockets.

Beth's trembling hand reached around my wrist and gripped on to it firmly for support. "Where are your parents, kids?" She called out to them.

The boy holding the knife was the one to reply.

"They're all dead."

* * *

The children didn't want to move from their place by the bed until Beth held out a can of sweetened creamed rice that I had been looking forward to eating myself. They all looked to the blue eyed boy waiting for his approval.

The boy examined the can with wide eyes and his lips smacked together with anticipation. He looked over Beth and I cautiously and then slowly lowered his blade. The boy nodded to the children and they crawled out towards Beth. She started opening the can and they squawked for it like chicks to a mother bird. Beth dropped her bag and pulled out another can of food and opened that one too, and offered both the cans to the kids. The oldest boy snatched it off her and they all pawed at the contents greedily, coughing and choking and spluttering as they scooped the food with their dirty fingers and pushed it into their mouths.

One of the children hadn't moved from her spot under the bed. She was wrapped up tight in a blanket and she stared up at me through sunken eye sockets.

I walked over to the bed, knelt in front of her and took out my bottle of water and held it to her lips. She sipped from it weakly and then coughed it back up into the bottle and all over my hands. I looked at her translucent white skin that hung loosely from her body and I could tell the kid was days, if not hours, away from death.

Beth was now spoon feeding the kids one at a time as they pulled at her clothing like street beggars.

"Get some to the girl too." I pointed to the weak looking girl under the bed.

Beth pushed her way through the gaggle of children and over to the girl with an open can of food. The other kids stayed behind fighting over what she had left.

Watching the starved kids fight over the food was all too much for me. I backed away from them and started pacing around the room trying to figure out where the smell of death was coming from. The gym had several exits. There were large double doors that led outside that were locked up tight. Another single door was to a store room that was filled with balls, and nets and rackets. And two doors that led into change rooms. I went into the boy's change room and went straight for the bathrooms to check the water supply. I turned the hot water tap and it came out freezing, but after a while it started getting warmer. I turned it off and wondered where it came from and if the kids knew to boil it before drinking it, or if they even had a way to boil it. I checked through the change rooms and opened up any unlocked lockers to find nothing much of use but clothing and towels. I smiled to myself at the sight of the tiled area with a row of showers, and hoped I would get at least one before we had to leave. The toilets smelt pretty awful, but that wasn't where the dead smell was coming from, so I went back in to the gym to find it.

As I approached the furthest corner of the gym the stench got stronger, and I knew what I had been looking for was wrapped up in a small bundle of sheets that had been left there. The bundle would only have been around twice the size of lil ass kicker and my guts went tight imagining what was underneath. I stopped a few yards away from it and covered my mouth trying to stop myself from chucking, and thinking what the hell I was going to do with it.

"That's my brother." The voice startled me and I swung around to see the boy with the blue eyes was standing behind me pointing at the bundle.

"He died after the adults went, I couldn't get him to eat…he just cried all the time."

I coughed and tried to maintain some self-control.

"The adults?...Were there other adults here? Other than you're parents?"

The boy looked up at me with his big blue eyes and nodded.

I stared back at the kid, wondering what kind of fucked up monsters had left them behind, and if they would have been better off with them or without them. I reached towards the kids shoulder in an effort to comfort him, but he ducked away from me and stepped back.

The kid had every right to be wary of me. It seems like adults hadn't really proven themselves to be too reliable.

"Where did they go, kid?"

"They went with the army people. They were going into the big city. The capital. There was supposed to be a safe place there."

"Why the fuck did they leave you?" I asked myself more than the kid.

The kid shrugged. "Said they couldn't take too many people. Could only take those that could do jobs. Our moms and dads had all died. They couldn't do any jobs so…" The kid trailed off and started pouting sadly.

"That's…messed up." I muttered.

"Yeah it's fucked."

I raised an eyebrow at his response.

"Your momma let you talk like that?"

"My momma's dead. If she weren't dead, I wouldn't need to talk like that." The kid folded his arms and glared angrily down on the bundle of sheets.

"We should bury him, you know?"

The kid nodded.

"What was his name?"

"James, we called him Jamie."

"And what's your name kid?"

"I'm Austin."

"Austin, you know if there's a shed or somethin' 'round 'ere, somewhere you might find a shovel?"

Austin nodded and turned back towards the door that led to the main corridor of the school.

I swung my Airborne onto my shoulder, took a deep breath, and then scooped up the bundle. I tried to keep my back to Beth as I followed Austin out of the door. The last thing I wanted was for her to spot it and realise what it was. She didn't need that after all the shit she had been through.

_Don't blame yourself._

I was halfway through the doorway when she called out to me.

"What you got there?"

I didn't answer. There was no way to put it gently, so I just stopped and looked at her over my shoulder. She studied my face glanced at the sheet that was tucked under my arm and then turned quickly back to the gaggle of children that were cluttered around her. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew what I had in my arms.

I followed the boy down another corridor and then into a room that was filled with circular tables and plastic chairs, that looked to be the school's cafeteria. The kid tried the handle on the door that led to a courtyard outside, but it didn't budge, so we made our way back out the front of the school. The boy stopped once he was outside and took in a deep breath and smiled up at the clouds as if it was the first time they had met.

He led me around the side of the building and towards a sheet metal shed. The door was open and was creaking and grinding as it swayed in the wind. I kicked it open with my boot and was confronted with a flurry of feathers and beaks and squawks and clucks, as a dozen chickens came flying out into my face. The chickens raced of down the side of the building and out of sight.

Inside the shed was a rack of various gardening tools, a few trolleys, a work bench, a ride on mower and a shit load of eggs. I put the bundle under my arm and took a shovel down from a hook on the wall. I eyed over what the shed had to offer. The thing that stood out most was a ring of keys that were hanging off a nail on the wall. I assumed they were the groundskeeper's keys, and I assumed there would be a master key that would unlock all the doors in the school.

"We have a spot to bury them." The kid said, looking over the shovel in my hand. He walked off towards the back of the school and to the far corner of the iron and brick fence. There was a line of graves against the fence line, all with painted crosses dug into the ground at their heads.

"Is your mom and dad 'ere?" I asked

"Just my mom, my dad never made it back."

"Point 'er out. I'll put 'im nearby."

The kid nodded and pointed to one of the graves that had 'Lucy' written on the cross.

I put the bundle down and started to dig up the dirt next to the grave. Austin sat down beside me and crossed his arms over his bent knees and watched me work with empty eyes.

"I had to do it you know." He nodded towards his little brother. "When he turned in to one of those…things."

I thought about how hard it had been for me to kill my own brother, and he was an asshole, not an innocent child. This kid would have to be tough as nails to come out of that without being screwed up..

"How long where you all here?" I asked him.

"We came here a few weeks after people started getting sick. The army people told us to pack up our stuff and meet here, so we did."

"Was it some kinda evacuation centre?"

Austin nodded. "I think so. This school was too expensive for me to go to, I went to the one on the other side of town, but I know they used a lot of computers and fancy stuff at this school. My mom said its motto was 'Prepare for the future', and I guess they did."

Austin pointed up to the roof of the school. It was covered in solar panels and a dozen or so of what looked like weather veins with a propeller attached.

"They made their own energy here. They collected rain water and it has its own deep well. We were supposed to be able to stay here for a long time, but…"

He trailed off and looked back to the grass sadly. I looked around at the grounds of the school. In the centre of the buildings, in the courtyard that was by the cafeteria, there looked to be a vegetable garden that was overgrown and inhabited by a few dozen chickens. Over by the section of fence that opened onto a field track were two cows chewing on the overgrown grass.

"Looks like you guys had it made here…I don't know why they even left." I wiped away the sweat that was beginning to form on my brow from the exertion of digging.

Austin shrugged his shoulder.

"Must've been somethin' pretty good in the city." I added.

Austin glared up at me angrily.

"I wouldn't fucking know would I?"

I stopped digging and looked at him.

"How old are you kid?"

"I'm eleven." He spat out angrily "No…twelve…now."

Twelve year old with an attitude, reminded me of someone I once knew.

"You don't gotta be so angry kid, I'm just talkin' to ya."

"I'm not angry…I'm hard! You think I took care of everyone by myself without being hard?"

That kid I once knew would have responded the same way, but for different reasons.

I pressed my lips together, understanding how Austin felt, and went back to digging while he pouted and held back tears.

When the hole was big enough I placed the bundle of sheets inside and pushed the dirt back on to it with the shovel. Austin got to his feet and pushed over the last bit of dirt with his hands and then rubbed at his eyes, leaving smears of dirt mixed in with the tears on his cheeks. I stood behind him for a few moments while he glared at all the graves and then followed him when he stood up and stormed back towards the school.

"How long were you kids on your own for?" I asked while I trudged through the wet grass behind him.

Austin shrugged his shoulders.

"They left sometime in the fall."

That was at least three months ago. I wondered how long they had gone without food for. There had been a shitload of empty cans in the gymnasium, but it barely looked like enough to feed them all for even a month. Austin must have gone through hell trying to keep them all alive. I knew what it was like to be on your own as a kid, I wouldn't wish that kind of feeling on anyone.

I reached out and grabbed the kid's small, bony shoulder and spun him around to face me. I stooped down so I could look him in the eyes.

"You're not gonna be on your own no more."

* * *

When I had made it back to the gym, Beth was sitting on the floor looking like a school teacher with a circle of children around her. She looked up at me sadly when I approached her and then studied my arms like I was missing something.

"Is it done?" She asked.

I nodded my head, knowing for sure that she had seen what I was holding.

Beth frowned and looked back to the children.

"You know those showers work." I hoped that would bring a smile to her face.

She did smile, but it was only for a second. She stood up and collected her bag and walked towards me.

"I'm gonna take one now, haven't washed since…" Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and I thought she was going to cry, but she blinked back the tears and smiled at me. "The motel."

_Don't blame yourself._

I nodded in agreement.

"Can you watch the kids?" She asked

"They don't need watchin' they've been takin' care of themselves for months."

"I know but… just...watch 'em…okay."

I knew she was trying to tell me to leave her alone, so I agreed.

* * *

While Beth took a shower, I wound open some of the windows to let some fresh air in and then headed out to explore the school with the groundskeepers keys in my hand.

The bottom floor of the school was mainly classrooms for the elementary and middle school students judging by the small tables and chairs, and artwork and posters on the walls. There were a few other rooms you would see in most schools like an art room, workshop, home skills room and a music room that I knew Beth would love. The library spanned two levels and had nearly as many computers as it did books.

The second level looked to be used by the older students. It included a faculty lounge joined on to faculty offices. There was a science lab up there that would have had Merle creaming his pants, and a media room stocked with computers, video recorders and cameras that made my fingers itch with memories of my past.

The third level was just a huge plant room filled with machinery that seemed to be connected to the turbines and panels that were on the roof. There was also a generator up there but it was completely dry.

When I was satisfied that I had checked out the whole school and there were no dead to be found. I went back to the gym. The kids were lying on the floor playing with their toys and reading books, but Beth wasn't around.

"Where's Beth?" I asked them.

"She's still in the shower. She's gonna use up all our water." Replied one of the older girls.

I must have been looking through the school for a couple of hours, maybe more. There was no way she was still washing herself. I walked over to the change room door, pushed it open and entered.

I listened out for the sound of running water, but there was nothing but silence.

"Beth?" I called towards the shower room and listened for a reply, but all I heard was the echo of my voice.

I stepped through the door and closed it behind me. I walked through the change room and towards the shower area scanning the whole room for Beth, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I peered over the low wall that separated the shower stalls and the locker area to see Beth was sitting in the corner of the shower stall with her face pressed into her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was naked, dripping wet and in a puddle of water.

"Fuck Beth, You're gonna make yerself sick, sittin' there like that."

I grabbed a couple of towels that were hanging on a row of hooks by the nearby locker. I gave them a shake and then brought them over to Beth, wrapping one around her shoulders and draping the other over her bare legs. She looked up at me with dull eyes that were swollen and red from crying and she smiled at me weakly.

_Don't blame yourself._

I sighed and then dropped myself down beside her, recoiling from the cold water that seeped through my jeans.

"The floors wet." She mumbled.

"I don't care." I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and put my other hand on her knee and started rubbing the towels against her trying to dry her off.

"You still thinkin 'bout what happened to you?"

Beth shook her head gently.

"No, I'm thinking about that little one you just buried. And those little ones out there who were almost starved to death, and Chloe, I don't even know if she will make it"

I figured Chloe was the sickly looking one that had been wrapped in the blankets under the bed. I didn't think she was going to make it either.

Beth sniffled a little and gave her nose a rub. "Can you imagine if Rick died? We would never leave Carl or Judith."

"No. Never." I agreed.

"I don't know if this world can be brought back from what it is now. Adults abandoning kids. People killing innocent, harmless people. People _eating_ people, people…raping people."

I squeezed my eyes shut as her last few words hit me right in the guts. I drew in a breath and held it, trying to keep my cool.

_Don't blame yourself._

"Seems like there's so little good left in this world." Beth continued.

"The worlds more fucked than a two dollar hooker at Fulton's." Sometimes smart ass remarks were the only way to express what you were feeling.

Beth's eyes glared up at me under her furrowed brows.

"Daryl, you can't talk like that with all these kids around."

Well fuck, I certainly wasn't used to censoring the shit that came out of my mouth, and the kids couldn't hear it, but I guess I would have to start making an effort.

"More…messed up…than a shithouse…in a tornado?"

She shook her head and sighed with a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "Better."

"A poophouse in a tornado?"

She threw her forehead back to her knees and her shoulders started shaking. I wondered if she was cold, or if I had upset her, but then I heard the sound of soft laughter.

"Poophouse?" She repeated turning her head and looking at me, her eyes bright and playful.

"Yep and if you don't get your ass off this cold wet floor, _you'll_ be in the poophouse."

* * *

Once Beth was dressed and back out with the kids I told her about the music room I had found.

Her blue eyes lit up like sunshine on backyard swimming pool and she wanted to check it out straight away. A few curious and eagre looking kids tagged along after her. When she was out of sight I took out my last cigarette, placed it between my lips and flicked at my lighter.

"Don't you dare smoke that in here with all these kids." Beth snapped at me from the doorway of the gym.

I grumbled to myself and then headed towards the double doors that led outside. I used the master key to unlock them and flung them both open to an area of grass with a swing set and climbing equipment surrounded by weeds that climbed up the supporting posts.

I sat down on the step to the gym and lit the cigarette and took a long, well-earned drag.

A couple of the kids crept up beside me and watched me with eyes as wide as saucers. I turned my head and blew the smoke away from them.

"What?"

The kids looked over at the play equipment and then back at me.

"Can we go play Mister…"

"Daryl."

"Mr Daryl?"

I guess Mr Daryl didn't make me sound quite as old as Mr Dixon so I let it slide.

"What're you askin' me for? Do what you want."

The two children cautiously stepped past me and another three followed them edging their way carefully around me as if I was a wild bear. The children initially ambled around the play equipment looking as if they were too weak to play, or as if they had forgotten how to. After a few moments of frowning and pouting and turning their heads, they began to climb over it smiling, then laughing and then squealing in delight.

"Just keep it down kids, don't want to call no attention."

So much for letting them do what they want.

"And don't get too close to that there fence. That razor wire'll cut y'all to bity bits."

One of the boys dug up a handful of mud and tried wiping it on a girl's sweater.

"Eww." She wailed.

"And play nice... Be careful its wet…Don't climb that high…Don't throw that shit…Don't lick that."

I threw my arms into the air.

"Ah fuck it!"

I sucked on my cigarette til it was nothing but filter, stomped it into the ground, and went looking for Beth.

* * *

We had a fairly satisfying dinner of eggs, carrots and cabbages that night, which Beth had cooked up in the kitchen by the cafeteria. The kids devoured it like it was candy and looked to Beth like she was some kind of goddess for cooking it up for us all. Both Beth and I tried to get Chloe to have something to eat, but all she did was chew on a bit of cabbage until it was green sludge and then spit it out. I figured it was a start, and we would have to try her on something more tomorrow.

The kids convinced Beth to read them a bedtime story, by the light of the small lamp they had plugged into the wall. According to the kids they could use small amounts of power, but anything big would need the generator. I would have to go searching for more gas to get that thing running and see what we could do with it.

The book they brought to her was '_Where the wild things are._' And I remembered it as being one of the books my mom read to me when I was a kid. In fact I think it was the _only_ book she read to me. I found myself hanging on to every word that Beth spoke in her soft and soothing voice, and thinking how lucky the kids were to have someone like her to take care of them.

When she was done she tucked all the kids into their beds and said goodnight to them all individually getting them to remind her of their names as she passed. I couldn't remember half the names and figured it would come in time. For now 'kid' would have to do.

When she was done a few voices called out "Goodnight Mr Daryl."

I found myself blushing for some stupid reason.

"G'nite." I grumbled.

Chloe was still lying on the floor wrapped in her blankets where she had been listening to Beth tell the story. I went over and picked her up and carried her to an empty bed. Mix jumped up on the bed beside her and licked her cheek and she managed a weak smile on her pale lips. I gave Mix a pat on the head. He always seemed to know where he was most needed.

Beth dragged two mattresses off some spare cots and laid them on the floor next to each other, in front of the kid's beds. She dumped a bundle of blankets down on top of the mattresses then removed her boots, dropped herself down and tucked herself in.

"G'nite." I called over to her and headed towards the door to the main corridor.

"What're you doin?" She asked.

I stopped and turned back to her.

"Someone's gotta keep watch."

"I think we're okay, these kids were here for months without anyone disturbin' them, and you know Mix will tell us if anythin' is up."

I glanced over to Mix sitting on Chloe's bed. He had lifted his head up at the mention of his name and was now watching me intently. What she was saying was the truth, and I was fucking exhausted after the shitty night sleep I had last night. I didn't need any more convincing. Just the look of the mattress was making my eyes dry, my head pound and my body ache in eagerness. I stumbled over to Beth and collapsed at her side, not even bothering to lift the blankets. Sleep started to take hold before my head had even hit the mattress.

* * *

Beth's cries woke me up for the second time in as many days. She was writhing around under the blankets and throwing her head from side to side. I studied her face and the trail of tears left on her cheeks that were bathed in the moonlight, and knew what she was dreaming of. I had tried to wake her from her dreams last night, but she had just started shrieking and throwing herself around violently. I had found that the best thing to do was to hold her until she was still again. So I wrapped my arm around her and held her trembling body tight against my own.

"No, Carol." She whimpered into the pillow.

_Don't blame yourself._

"It's me, Beth." I whispered into her ear.

"Anton?" Her chest started heaving as she took in panicky laborious breaths.

_Don't blame yourself._

"It's Daryl."

Her heavy breathing started to slow.

"Daryl?" She whispered.

"Yeah it's me. You're okay. You're safe"

"I love you." She whimpered, as a single tear slipped from under her closed eyelid and rolled down her cheek to the mattress below.

I wiped away the tear that was rolling along my own cheek with the sleeve of my shirt.

"I love you too, girl."

Her lips turned into a peaceful smile and then she was silent again.

I sniffed and wiped at my face and then caught two bright eyes peering at me from on top of one of the beds.

"Somethin' bad happen to her?" Austin whispered.

I cleared my throat trying to shake away any sign I had been crying.

"Yeah."

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people. That's what my mom always said."

I nodded towards Beth. "Yeah, those are her words too."

Austin studied me for a few moments.

"Are you her daddy?"

I glared up at him and tried to remind myself that he was just a kid.

"No, I ain't."

Austin looked back towards Beth with a frown on his face.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

If he wasn't just a kid I would have told him to mind his own business, but he was, so…

"Yup."

Austin screwed up his face.

"She kinda looks like a kid."

I glared at him angrily.

"Just shut the fuck up and go to sleep." I growled.

Austin chuckled softly and then rolled over pulling the blanket up over his head.

_Fucking smart ass little shit._

I smiled to myself thinking how it was the first time I had heard him laugh, it was worth it even if it was at my expense. I let my head drop back down to the mattress beside Beth's and tried counting sheep to keep my mind off the shit that had happened to her.

* * *

Beth only woke two more times that night, which was three less than the night before, but I still felt like shit.

Beth had tried to make a breakfast of eggs, but she had cracked one open to find a half grown chick inside and binned the whole lot. It was good news as it meant there was a rooster around somewhere, and I wouldn't have minded the eggs myself, but it would have grossed the kids out. So we ended up having a canned breakfast.

"I'm gonna have to go out an' hunt." I told her as I rummaged through the last of our cans in my back pack. "I'm guessin' were gonna be here for a few days, until we kind find a way to get these kids outta here."

Beth pouted thoughtfully and nodded her head. "We'll need to wait for Chloe to get stronger too."

I collected my airborne and ran my fingers over the arrows. They had seen better days. I would have to check out the workshop later and see about making more.

Beth studied the bow in my hands. "We could get one of them chickens. There's plenty out there." She suggested.

"Nah, save 'em for later. I need to see what's gamin' 'round these parts anyways."

Beth frowned at me.

"Okay, just be careful out there. Unknown territory and all."

"Don't you worry 'bout me. There's nothin' out in them woods I can't handle."

Beth kissed me on the cheek and sent me off on my way. I felt like daddy going to work and leaving the wife and kids at home. The thought was more pleasant than I had expected.

I went out the back gate that opened on to the track field. I crossed the field and walked out into the woods and examined my surroundings. It looked very much like the woods back in Georgia, but it didn't seem quite so dense, and it was wetter and muddier than it usually was at this time back home.

I could see a few signs that there had been rabbit and squirrel though these parts recently, but I ignored their tracks and delved in deeper hoping to find something more substantial. I had heard there were deer and elk in these parts, and even wild turkey. I had never caught one of those before.

I had been wandering in the bush for about twenty minutes before I came across some familiar tracks. There were several long ditches dragged through the leaves and dirt and I knew a small group of walkers had been through here. It looked as if they had been heading away from the school, and I decided I would just let it be for now.

I found some dropplings not far from the walker tracks, and then some marks in the bark of a nearby tree where antlers had been rubbed. I tracked the deer for a few minutes until I came across a sight I didn't think I would see outside of Georgia, and I had hoped I would never see again.

There was a small spruce tree directly in front of me with an overgrown vine scrambling up its trunk. It was covered in white flowers. Cherokee roses.

I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at the flowers.

_Don't blame yourself?_

Fuck that! I had kept it to myself for too fucking long!

I dropped my bow to the ground and stormed over to the tree. I wrapped my hands around the bristly stems and started tearing away at the roses, ripping them to pieces and trampling them on the ground. I didn't stop until every rose was nothing but leaves and petals at my feet. I stood over them covered in sweat and drawing in heavy breaths.

I still felt like shit. I felt like I just needed to hit something. I felt like I needed to beat something to death. So I went back to the walker tracks thinking they would be softer on the knuckles than a tree.

I found three walkers idling through the woodland a few minutes later. I dumped my backpack and my airborne to the ground, and rolled up my sleeves. This was going to get messy.

* * *

I don't know how long I had been out in the woods for, but I returned just after dusk, and came back to a worried looking Beth standing at the back gate.

She threw her arms around me when I was close enough.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Huntin'." I replied casually.

Beth stepped back and looked me over and I opened my hands to show that I had nothing to show for it.

"What the hell happened to you?"

I looked down at my hands and at my clothes. I was covered in blood and gore. There wasn't a clean space on me anywhere. I couldn't even remember exactly what had happened. I blacked out some time after killing the fifth walker with my bare hands.

"It's not mine." Was all I could offer.

Beth took a step back from me and folded her arms over her chest. I could see now that her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying all day.

"What's wrong?" Something in my gut told me this wasn't about Anton or Carol.

Beth sniffled, and wiped her nose.

"It's Chloe."

My face fell as I anticipated what she was going to say next.

"She's dead."

**AN: I'm not going to include trigger warnings from now on as I don't want to spoil what happens. But you should know by now I don't really hold back on the nasty stuff.**

**A guest asked if I had any formal training in writing. No I haven't. Read on if you want to hear a boring life story...**

**I was terrible at English in highschool. I couldn't understand why if I spoke the language I had to learn about it. Oh how stupid and naive I was! I didn't even pass English in highschool. The only reason I got into university was because I did so well on all my other subjects that my English teacher was convinced to fudge my results and I ended up with a 49/100 (just enough to get in). I studied to become a Primary school teacher, among many other things. I could really only teach English up to grade 5, after that I had no idea what I was doing! I've found that reading and writing fan fiction has really helped with my English skills. I welcome constructive critisism so that I can improve even more :)**


	27. Staying Put

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter III**

**Staying Put**

Chloe looked terrible that morning. She was so white, the only way I could spot her among the sheets was through her straw coloured hair that hung dull and limp from the loose skin on her skull. I had called out her name to wake her, and her fine blonde eyelashes had fluttered a little in response.

I knelt down to the side of her bed and stroked her across her ice cold forehead.

"Chloe you need to try to eat somethin'." I murmured gently to her.

Her eyes flicked open and looked past me and then closed again. I scooped up a spoonful of tomato soup and held the spoon to her ghost white lips. They parted ever so slightly and I tipped the spoon allowing the soup to drip into her mouth. Her tiny tongue pushed at the soup like a birds would lap up water, and the majority of what I had fed her dripped out of the side of her mouth. After a few spoonfuls she looked like a pale white vampire lying in a coffin with lines of blood running from her mouth. She pressed her lips closed when I tried to offer her more. Feeling defeated I dropped the spoon back into the nearly full can and pulled myself to my feet, resolved I would have to try again later.

When I turned Daryl was standing behind me looking down at Chloe. His eyes, full of fear, tore away from her apathetic body and looked at me. We didn't say anything we could read each other's thoughts, and I didn't want to say them out loud.

Daryl turned his sad face away from me and began rummaging around in his backpack.

"I'm gonna have to go out an' hunt." He said while glaring at the contents of the bag. "I'm guessin' were gonna be here for a few days, until we find a way to get these kids outta here."

My lips pressed into a pout as I thought of how exactly we were going to do that. We certainly weren't going to fit them all on the bike, and I hadn't seen any cars big enough to fit them all in when we rode through the town.

"We'll need to wait for Chloe to get stronger too." I suggested, looking down on the girl who had fallen back asleep. Although I didn't know if she ever would.

Daryl insisted that he go out right there and then to hunt, even though we had plenty of chickens we could butcher. I was a little anxious to be left alone with the kids. I was anxious to be left alone with Chloe. If something happened to her while he was gone, I didn't think I would have the strength to do what needed to be done. But Daryl looked so eager to get out there. It was probably like stress relief for him, and it had been a stressful few days.

I kissed him and sent him on his way and then turned back to the room full of orphans I had been left with. I looked over them and tried to recite their names in my head. Chloe was easy to remember. I didn't think I would ever forget her. Austin, with the deep blue eyes and mess of dark hair, was the oldest of the group. He was a serious boy with a bit of an attitude, but he was dedicated to protecting his friends. Marie, with the strawberry blonde hair and face full of freckles, was the oldest girl. She loved to talk and giggle and was like a ray of sunshine, breaking through the clouds of misery that these kids had been living under. Winnie, the one with the bronze coloured skin and ringlets of brown hair, she was the youngest of the group at about three or four years of age. None of the children could tell me her exact age, her older brother didn't know what month she was born in, and the little girl had never learned to talk. Her brother was one of the Tommys; Tommy C, but I didn't ask what the C stood for. He had warm brown eyes and skin a few shades darker than his sister's. He told me he was ten, but Marie had insisted he was only eight. The other Tommy was Tommy J. He had blonde hair and an excess amount of skin that suggested he would have been a plump boy before the outbreak. Nathan was a long and skinny nine year old who kept to himself. Lawson was a mischievous eight year old who liked to pick on the girls for fun. Jovan was the youngest boy at five years old he had pale skin, platinum blonde hair and grey blue eyes. His sister Anna could have been his twin as far as looks went, although she was a couple of years older, Jovan seemed to be the more protective of the two. Lyra was six years old. She had golden curls and Greene eyes that reminded me of Maggies. That was eleven children to remember, and eleven extra seating places we needed to find in a car if we were ever getting them out of here.

My first order of business for the day was to repair the chicken coop, and separate the hens from the rooster so we didn't get any more nasty surprises when we cracked our eggs. I collected the tools I needed from the workshop and a few of the boys followed me, excited about helping bang stuff together. The little girl, Winnie, tagged along too; I found that she was never far behind me.

When the coop was nailed back together, we attempted the more difficult task of rounding the hens up. This part the boys loved; running and rolling in the mud, darting and dodging from side to side and lunging onto the birds and presenting me with nothing but a handful of feathers. I ended up telling them to forget the hens and just worry about the rooster, and the kids spent another good half hour trying to corner him in the yard.

After we got him locked away, I told the kids to collect twelve eggs for lunch, one for each child and myself, hoping there would be no chicks this time around.

Once successfully cooked, without any chicks, I tried to offer some to Chloe, but she was sleeping soundly and when I shook her she barely gave me a grunt. After a few failed attempts at keeping her awake, I left her to sleep feeling defeated.

I had wanted to check out a classroom today, and see if there was something I could do with the kids. Remind them about their ABCs or their times tables or even just how to hold a pencil, but I couldn't bear to leave Chloe on her own. So I asked Austin to watch over her while I went to the classrooms and collected what I needed.

The children all sat around me in a circle back in the gym as I made them practice their printing on the lined workbooks I had found. Their hand writing varied from pretty and eloquent, to outright atrocious ─ it was mainly the boys who were atrocious. Even little Winnie made an attempt at writing, drawing circles and squares to represent her letters. After our handwriting lesson I let them draw freestyle and several of them presented me with stick figure images of myself and Daryl.

I took up a workbook and some coloured pencils and knelt by the side of Chloe's bed wondering if some colouring in might lighten her up a little.

"You want to try to draw some pictures." I asked her brushing the hair back from her ice cold brow.

I turned my hand and cupped her cheek in my palm. That was ice cold too. I gripped her chin between my thumb and forefinger and turned her face up to me.

"Chloe."

There was no response from the indigo blue lips. I put my hand to her mouth to see if I could feel any heat or moisture, but there was nothing.

"Chloe!" I called more forcefully feeling my panic rise. The children in the room all stopped what they were doing and watched me as I ripped the blankets and sheets away from Chloe's limp body.

I watched her chest, looking for a rise and fall, but there was nothing. I put my fingers under her jaw to feel the pulse in her artery. Again nothing.

"Chloe!" I wailed. I scooped up her tiny body in my arms and fell to my knees dragging her of the bed and on to my lap.

I wondered how long she had been lost for, and if CPR would bring her back and what the risk would be putting my mouth to hers.

Mix suddenly lifting his haunches and growling towards me with his hackles raised told me it was not the best idea. I placed Chloe gently on the ground and reached in to my boot for my knife.

I did not want to do this. I didn't even like doing it to the walkers who I had never met, and who meant nothing to me. Doing it to a child, who I had known, and cared for was going to be near on impossible.

Where the hell was Daryl! He was strong, he did the tough jobs, he would have taken care of it for me. He had been gone for hours now. I had remembered him going on two day hunting trips before at the prison, but surely he would have made his one today short, leaving me in an unknown place with eleven children.

My hand trembled as I pressed on the catch and released the small blade. I held it to her temple and took in a deep breath and closed my eyes.

_Just plunge it in._

I opened an eye and looked at her peaceful face, so angelic and innocent. I took another deep breath.

_Just do it. Send her to where she belongs._

Chloe's blue lips began to twitch and her eyes began to flicker, and Mix's growls became more intense as he darted back and forth around us.

_Just do it Beth! Do it now!_

"I'll do it." Came a strained, youthful voice from behind me. Austin pushed past me with his knife raised and ready to plummet down into Chloe's skull.

"No." I reached out and stilled his hand. "You shouldn't have to."

Austin reluctantly lowered his blade and stepped back. Chloe's pale eyelids flicked open to reveal misty, opaque eyes. I had to be strong, for myself, for Daryl and for the kids. I lifted the blade and slammed it down hard.

* * *

Folding that small body tightly up in a sheet was right up there with seeing daddy being killed, being held at knifepoint by Carol, and being attacked by Anton, as one of the hardest things I had ever had to endure in my life. Chloe's tiny body weighed twice as much as a body that size should weigh, and my arms trembled under the heavy burden. I carried her through the cafeteria and outside, with the children following close beside me. Their solemn faces stared down at their tiny feet as they kicked through the wet grass. Once by the gravesite, Austin and I began digging a hole for her, while the other children sat in the damp grass and watched. None of them cried. They were all stronger than I was. Tears were running from my eyes and dripping from my nose and rolling down my chin. I was a blubbering mess. And when I rolled her tiny body into the ditch and heard it land with a thud my body started heaving and shaking with deep sobs.

I wanted Daryl to come back so badly. I needed him here to comfort me and lend me his strength. I glanced up at the darkening sky and wondered when and if he was coming back to us.

"One's coming." I turned my head to Marie who was pointing towards the far side of the track field.

I followed the direction of her finger until my eyes rested on the walker that was stumbling across the overgrown grass towards the school.

As I examined the familiar gait, and clothes and the messy dark hair my breaths started to come quick and shallow and my heart started thudding in my ears.

"No." I whimpered.

I stumbled over to the gate on legs I couldn't feel. The children tried to follow me but I demanded they stay where they were, as I fumbled at the latch on the gate.

Once the children were safely secured behind the gate I reached for my blade. It was still flecked with rusty coloured blood from the last time I had to use it on someone I cared about. I glared at the small blade wondering if I could even do it. It was hard enough doing it to Chloe, but to do it to Daryl would be impossible. Maybe I could just throw the blade to the grass and let him have me. Maybe we could stumble around together for all eternity. It would be kind of romantic, but that would mean the kids would be left on their own...Again.

I squeezed my hand around the grip, pushed my eyes shut and said a silent prayer to God to give me strength. When I opened my eyes Daryl was only a few yards away from me, and I could see that God had heard me and given me more than what I asked for.

Daryl was covered from head to toe in blood and flesh and tissue. But there was something about the stumbles, and the way he was gripping the strap across his chest, that told me he was still living. When his intense blue eyes glared at me full of reason and recognition I folded my blade and dashed forward. I threw myself into his chest and listened for the familiar and relieving sound of his steady and strong heartbeat.

"Where the hell have you been?" I cried as I pulled my face away from his blood encrusted vest.

"Huntin'." He replied coolly

I looked at his empty, blood covered hands. Whatever he had been hunting it didn't look as if he had brought it home. He was covered in a thick syrup of brown and red sludge. His hair was matted together with twigs and leaves and white flower petals stained with red. And around his ankle was wrapped a string of what looked like intestine.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked after I had managed to lift my heavy jaw.

His tired looking blue eyes peered at me through the sea of red.

"It ain't mine."

A wave of relief rushed over my body, and with it a wave of tears flooded to my eyes. I sniffed and rubbed the tears away with my sleeve.

"What's wrong?" He asked with the exhaustion in his eyes giving way to fierce intensity.

"It's Chloe."

Daryl's face went slack as if he knew what I was about to say.

"She's dead." I choked out.

Daryl stared at me for a few moments like he was trying to absorb what I was telling him. The apple of his throat bobbed as he swallowed.

"Is she…did you…take care of it?"

I nodded in reply, looking down to Daryl's gut covered boots.

Daryl reached an arm around me and pulled me into his chest and held me there. He stank of dried blood and rotting flesh, but I didn't care. He was warm and firm and he made me feel safe.

"Shit Beth, I'm sorry I was gone so long. You shouldn't've had to do that."

"No. Nobody _should_ have to. But I did."

Daryl wrapped his hand around mine and began pulling me back towards the school and to the haunted looking faces of the children standing behind the iron bars.

The children all glared at Daryl warily as he entered the gate, taking in his walker like appearance.

"I'm okay kids." He reassured them.

Daryl looked over to the corner of the fence to the burial site and took in the view of the mound of freshly dug earth.

"You bury her?" He asked.

I nodded. "Just now…I need to…cover her."

"I'll do it." Daryl let go of my hand and paced over to the grave scooping up the shovel on his way. He tossed the dirt onto the grave while the children and I watched on.

A tiny cold hand pressed into mine and I looked down to see Winnies large brown eyes staring up at me. I gave her hand a squeeze and she gave me a supportive smile in return. It was supposed to be me taking care of them.

When Daryl was finished covering her, he wiped some of the sweat, dirt and blood from his brow and looked back to me.

"You wanna sing somethin'?" He suggested.

I shook my head and pouted. "No. I don't feel much like singing."

Daryl nodded, threw the shovel to the ground and came over to give me a comforting squeeze.

"Sometimes there just ain't a song for it." He murmured into my ear.

* * *

Daryl took a much needed shower while I got the children in to bed. They didn't ask for a book that night. They didn't even ask for any dinner. I said goodnight to each of them, and they pulled the covers up to their ears and pressed their eyes shut.

Daryl emerged wearing a high school sweatsuit that was too short in the legs. The sight of him made me smile. I had never seen him wear anything but flannel, denim and leather. And I had never seen him in something so clean.

"What're you smilin' at." He grumbled.

"Nothin.' I'll wash those for you tomorrow." I pointed down at the pile of bloody clothes he had dropped to the floor in-front of me.

He pulled at the fabric that clung to his skin.

"How I look?"

I smiled and nodded to him and pulled him over to our mattresses. His stumbled over, then his legs buckled at the knees and he fell face forward into the mattress looking completely exhausted. I sat down beside him and pulled the blankets over the both of us.

"What happened to you out there?"

Daryl groaned in response.

"You were gone all day and you didn't even bring anythin' back?"

Daryl opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Why, you hungry?"

"No. Not at all…Just wanted to know what you were doin' that whole time."

"I was…just…." His shoulders heaved as he sighed, and he turned his face towards me. "I was angry... 'cause of everythin' that's happened… to you…and to these kids…I took it out on some walkers…but I'm gonna be okay now. We'll all be okay."

I smiled at him and then curled up beside him.

"I know."

* * *

We were woken in the morning by Mix barking and pawing at the gym door. Daryl leapt to his feet, strapped on his knife, grabbed hold of his bow and raced to the door. He pointed a finger at me silently telling me to stay put, before disappearing out the door behind Mix. I ignored him and scooped up the crossbow at my side. I scrambled to my feet, strained on the string until it clicked into place and then followed him out the door.

I found him pacing along the front fence of the school in the pouring rain. There were several wet and rotten walkers with arms stretched between the iron bars, and fingers desperately trying to get hold of Daryl. Daryl was stabbing his knife into their skulls with Mix darting about his feet. His waved white fur stuck together in damp clumps, looking a lot like Daryl's hair.

Daryl caught sight of me mid-swing and stopped what he was doing, glaring at me as water streamed down his face and hung of his chin in droplets.

"Thought I told you to stay put?" He called out.

"You didn't _tell_ me anythin'." I pointed out, as I paced through the mud to meet him.

Daryl scoffed, shook his head, and turned around to finish the last walker.

"Them damn kids were too noisy the other day." He grumbled as he flicked brain matter on to the grass.

"They're kids Daryl. They're gonna be noisy."

Daryl bent down and wiped his blade against the wet grass to remove the last of the blood.

"I think we should get 'em outta that gym. Nothin' but ghosts in there."

He glanced up at me and I nodded in agreement.

"I can clear it out today, and make a play area for 'em in there. It'll be quieter, and warmer than outside. Half o' 'em were up the night snifflin' and drivin' me crazy." He added.

I couldn't help but smile at him. He was so cute when he worried about others.

"I'll have a look around today. Maybe we can move 'em in to the library or somethin'." I suggested.

Daryl looked up to the second level windows.

"You should check out the faculty lounge. Looks real cosy up there and there's a big-ass TV set, maybe we can play some movies for 'em or somethin'."

A movie! The thought of watching a movie had _me_ excited.

"That'll be real nice; a rainy day movie. I never thought it would happen again."

"Never did happen to me…Just don't pick no fairy princess shit."

I smiled to myself as I turned away from him and made my way back up the steps to the school. I would have to check out the library and get the pinkest, girliest, ballerina, horse-riding, fairy princess movie I could find.

* * *

After Daryl had helped me move some of the cot beds upstairs to the faculty lounge he got to clearing out the gym with the help of the older boys.

The rest of the children and I tried to make the lounge look like a real children's bedroom, clearing the shelves for their toys and books and making the beds up nice with the colourful covers they had brought from their homes when they first settled in here. The children picked out some of their favourite drawings that they wanted to go up on the wall and I went searching for some moulding tack to stick them up.

I went to the adjoining hallway first; the one that was connected to all the faculty offices. I figured the staff would have some in their drawers. I went to the end of the hall first and checked out the principal's office. It had a huge oak desk in the centre of the room that was still covered with papers and documents from when this place had been run as a school, although now they were covered in dust. I checked in the top drawer to find the tack I was looking for and also a curious small key. I looked it over and then slipped it into my pocket hoping I might find whatever that key was used for later on. I went over to the window behind the desk and pulled down the blind slats to look at the grey and dreary day outside.

From this high position I could see the entire town. I could even see over to the road Daryl and I had left to come here, and it also had a good view of the school yard below. I turned away from the window and examined the office. The walls were lined with bookshelves, paintings, photographs and awards. In one corner of the room was a sofa set surrounding a small coffee table. It was a very comfortable looking room; More comfortable than the warden's office back at the prison. I figured if Daryl and I were going to stay here for a while, we may as well be comfortable.

After I had stuck the kid's pictures up on the walls, I led the children into the library to look for a video. There was a limited selection to choose from; mainly movies that had been adapted from books, but there were also fairy tale conversions in the form of Disney movies. One of them stood right out for me.

"The little mermaid." I said excitedly as I pulled it off the shelf.

It had been Maggie's favourite movie as a kid. She used to watch it over and over again, and drive my mom and dad crazy. When she got too old for it, her love of it transferred to me and I would watch it over and over again and drive my whole family crazy singing the songs from it.

I presented it to Winnie who was standing at my side and she screwed her nose up at me. I guess she wouldn't even know what this movie was. In fact she had probably never even seen a movie in her whole, short life.

"I love that movie." Marie squealed excitedly as she snatched it out of my hand.

"Good. Daryl will too." I smirked to myself devilishly.

* * *

After I had got the movie into the player and checked there was enough power to run the TV, I went downstairs to collect the boys and Daryl.

As I walked towards the corridor that led to the gym I could hear a faint shushing sound. I rounded the corner to find that Daryl was using spray paint to cover over the writing on the doors to the gym. It looked like he was covering it with the image of white fluffy clouds. When I got to his side I could see it wasn't clouds at all, but angel wings.

I tapped him on his shoulder and he jumped, startled by my touch. He must have been in the zone. I eyed over the art work he had created. The wings leapt off the doors and looked as if they could take flight at any moment. The way he painted them made it looks as if the golden sun was shining over them and casting silver shadows on the edges. I couldn't understand how he had managed to make the wings look so lifelike and colourful using only three different coloured cans.

"It's amazing." I breathed, completely astonished at how talented he was. "Did you do graffiti before?"

Daryl added a few more sprays to his dazzling art work.

"Urban art." He corrected. "I messed about a bit when I was in middle school, but I got bored real quick."

I reached out to put my hands on his masterpiece and drew it back when I realised it would still be wet. "This was a really good idea."

"God ain't forgivin' no-one what they did. The kids don't need to be reminded of it e'ry time they come down 'ere."

I nodded in agreement.

"It's just so beautiful…so perfect." I turned towards him and gripped his hairy chin between my fingers and pulled his jaw down so I could stand on my tip toes and kiss him. "Just like you." I murmured against his lips.

* * *

Daryl was not impressed with my movie choice, but he sat down among the kids, Mix and I and watched it anyway. I had a huge smile pasted on my face throughout the movie, I even managed to smile through the bits that reminded me of daddy. Marie and I giggled and clapped our hands together like we were _both_ school girls, when our favourite song came on.

_Look at this stuff_  
Isn't it neat?  
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?  
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl  
The girl who has everything?

Marie and I started dancing, flinging our hair around and rolling around on the floor, mimicking the movements on screen. The other girls joined in with us, rolling and giggling on the floor and the boys laughed at our performance. Daryl screwed his face up and tried to hide his smirk.

When it got to my favourite part I rolled across the floor to him, and propped myself up on my arms and leaned into his body.

_When's it my turn?  
Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above?  
Out of the sea  
Wish I could be  
Part of _your _world_

I batted my eye lids playfully, doing my best to make him uncomfortable. He tried to resist at first, turning his blushing face away from mine and pressing his lips together to stop himself smiling. I continued rubbing my shoulder into him and fluttering my lashes, and his lips curled into a sideways smile. He turned suddenly towards me and gripped the sides of my face with his rough, calloused hands.

"You're fuckin' beautiful , you know that?" He took my lips in his and pressed down on them, and I felt a stirring between my legs that I never thought I would feel again.

"Language." Was all I could manage to murmur against his lips.

* * *

I was nervous about going to bed that night. It was obvious we had both felt something after that kiss we had shared during the movie, and I knew when our bodies were together in bed, the topic of being intimate was going to… come up. We had moved the coffee table and pushed the two sofas together to form a makeshift bed, and tossed on a pile of blankets and pillows. I had chosen to wear a school sweater to bed over my underwear. It was quite warm on the second level, and I thought with Daryl's body heat I wouldn't need much more than that.

I lay on one of the sofas stock-still, watching him by the moonlight that filtered between the blinds, while he pulled his sweat shirt ─which matched the one I was wearing ─ over his head and tossed it to the ground. Daryl had insisted on washing his own clothes for some reason, and they were still hanging over the low wall in the change room shower, drying. He looked real cute in those too-short sweat pants. He looked even cuter sauntering over to me shirtless with his muscled body spotted with scars and tattoos. He climbed over the arms of the sofa and slipped in beside me and pulled the blankets around us, and I waited for what would come next.

He didn't do anything that I had expected him to. He just slipped his arm around my waist, kissed me on the cheek and closed his eyes.

I held my body tense thinking about the warmth and smell and firmness of him pressed against me. There was a part deep inside of me that desperately wanted to make love to Daryl, but there was another part that was terrified even of the thought.

"It was an okay day today." I whispered trying to start up a conversation to shake my tension away.

Daryl opened his eyes and looked at me through the dim light.

"Yeah it was."

"It won't be so bad stayin' here…until we can find a car for all these kids."

"Yeah. I'll need to go huntin' tomorrow, but after that I'll have a look in town." Daryl closed his eyes again, and I stared nervously at the ceiling.

"Umm…so…do you miss the others?" I tried to use a casual tone that would cover my anxiety.

Daryl opened his eyes again and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Yeah I do…you?"

"Yeah. I miss Judy most of all…but I know she's safe." I started twiddling my thumbs, and then my foot started twitching too.

Daryl looked to the dancing blanket at our feet and then to the hands resting on his arm, and then to my face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I chewed on my bottom lip. "Just…you know…thinkin'…'bout stuff."

Daryl smirked and then ran his hand down along my sweater. He edged his fingers under the hem of it and then crept them slowly up underneath it.

"This kind of stuff?" He murmured.

His warm touch against my skin sent tingles through my body and clouded my mind. I held myself still as I tried to pinpoint the emotion I was feeling, and then I nodded.

Daryl climbed on top of me and pushed my trembling thighs apart with his knees, and lowered himself gently on top of me. His chest was pressed against my breasts, and I could feel his erection pressing against me through the fleece of his pants and the cotton of my underpants. I drew in a deep breath in an effort to settle my turning stomach.

He lowered his lips on to mine and taking my bottom lip in between his he ran his tongue along it ever so slightly. I drew in a quick breath, and he did the same as he pulled his face away from mine.

"You sure you're ready? It's only been a few days."

My entire body was shaking in apprehension. I didn't know if I was ready, but I did want to be. So I nodded.

His hands traced along my waist to my hip and then up along my side and then rested against the fleshy side of my breast. His mouth moved from my mouth, to my chin, along my jaw and to my ear. He breathed against it and I was immediately reminded of the sickening sound Anton had made into my ear when he was on top of me.

I held my breath and tried to push the image away. I looked at the familiar muscle tone and collection of scars on Daryl's broad shoulders and tried to remind myself that it was Daryl and not Anton who was on top of me.

Daryl slipped his hand under my arm and to my shoulder blade and pulled me against his chest as he ground his hips into mine, pushing his erection in firmer between my legs. I swallowed as I tried to hold back vomit.

_It's Daryl. It's Daryl. It's Daryl._

My Mantra was no use, I was a trembling, twisting, panicking mess.

"No. Stop!" I cried.

He stopped immediately and raised his head looking at me with questioning eyes.

"I…I don't think I'm ready." I swallowed down the bile again. "Please, get off."

Daryl wriggled around while he tried to clamour off me. All I could feel was him moving between my legs and pressing against my sensitive spots.

"Get off!" I squealed as my vision filled with the image of Anton again.

Daryl threw himself to the side and stared at me as I panted and puffed and tried to catch my breathe.

"I'm sorry." I gasped. "I thought it might be okay…but…"

Daryl moved his hand to my chin.

"It's okay, I don't expect nothin'."

I nodded my head. "I just…I need a little more time."

Daryl wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in to his chest.

"Take all the time you need. I ain't goin' nowhere."

* * *

**AN:That was a little tease at whats to come. Beth is just not ready yet.**

**Seems like we've discovered Daryl has a bit of talent as an artist. Completely Norman inspired, and he will inspire some other events in this part too.**

**I'm going to add a few more chapters to Part 1 'An Unexpected Journey.' Most likely with next update. It irritates me that it was only 9 chapters when Part 2 is 12 and this will probably be 12 too. I'm OCD like that. It'll be two new chapters at the start, and the current first chapter split into two to make up for it.** **So it may be confusing as the chapters will jump forward by three. Hopefully it'll be worth it...**


	28. Austin

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter IV**

**Austin**

I woke up with a raging boner that was hard enough to drill through diamond. I lay on the sofa staring up at the ceiling, and trying to think of something other than Beth's soft and sweet smelling body curled up beside me. Dead cats in a puddle of fur and guts on the road side, chunks of walker brain, wobbling like Jell-O on the hilt of my Busse, Grandma. Nothing helped, my eyes kept being drawn like iron to a magnet, to her tight waist exposed under the twisted fleece of her sweater, and then down over her smooth rounded rump, exposed by her panties caught between her cheeks. I wondered if she would be ready yet. It had been a few weeks at least since we had last tried, and her night time kisses had been getting heavier and wetter.

I gingerly put my hand across her belly and stroked downwards, slipping my fingers under the frilled elastic band of her too small panties. I worked my way down through the soft curly hair, and to the silky smooth skin on the hood on her clit.

"Stop." She gasped as she pushed her hand on top of mine, flattening it against her belly.

I drew my hand away and out quickly, feeling like a fat kid caught touching the sweet rolls.

"Sorry…just thought you might…"

"I'm bleedin'."

"Oh." So it had been at least a month since it had all happened.

I leaned down and nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the vanilla scent of her. She had found some perfumes in the lockers and had been experimenting with all the different scents, but Vanilla was my favourite so she wore it most often.

"We could go take a shower." I murmured in her ear.

She drew in a quick sharp breath and held it for a while.

"Not yet…soon…just not yet."

I held back a groan of frustration and kissed her behind her ear.

"Whenever you're ready."

I guessed it would probably take more than a month; which did disappoint me just a little. It's not like I hadn't had my dry spells before I had been with Beth. But now that I knew what I was missing out on, my mind was on it all the time.

I wriggled out from behind her and climbed over the arm of the sofa that made up half of our bed, trying to avoid stepping on the guitar she had rested against the sofa so she could practice at night.

I stretched out and cracked my back with a groan. The sofa was the most comfortable thing I had slept on in ages, but old men─ like myself ─ still woke up sore.

"You're gettin' up early." Beth said as she sat up and stretched.

"Yeah, gon' take a shower before I head out. Might try out Roanoke."

I had been venturing further and further away from the school in search of cars, or car batteries seeing as that was what we most needed. We had only found one running car in the whole of Green mount, and it was only a tiny Honda hatch. I had considered trying to squeeze all those kids in there. I thought it might be doable, if I took one or two on the bike with me. But sometimes those kids could get so rowdy and restless, they would drive Beth insane on that four hour trip. Beth still liked to drive the Honda around the parking lot. Said she had nearly forgotten how to drive during that time on the run and then at the prison, and needed the practice.

Beth was watching me collect up my boots and clothing, with a pout on her lips

"I don't think you should…it's probably swarming with walkers."

"I'll be careful. I'll scope it out first and I won't go too far in."

Beth looked down to her bare knees.

"You wanna get back to the others, right?"

She looked up at me, and shrugged.

"I guess so."

"Well we might have to take a lil' risk."

Beth frowned at me and then crawled out of bed and picked up her guitar and started strumming it while humming a tune I didn't recognise.

"Still workin' on your song?"

"mmm." She mumbled.

She had been trying to write a song over the past few weeks, but she kept complaining that something was missing in the lyrics. I knew nothing about music, so I wasn't about to be any help to her.

"Gon' take that shower."

"You've been takin' a lot of showers lately." She said while eyeing me up and down with a furrowed brow. "We won't have so much water come summer."

"It's okay, I won't take long."

I left her there frowning at the strings on her guitar while I went downstairs. That shower drain was taking my load whether Beth was gonna be a part of it or not.

* * *

The weather was starting to heat up now as we moved into spring, and the children were restless about being cooped up inside the gym to play. It seemed every time they went to the outside play equipment we would wake up the next morning with half a dozen walkers pawing at the gates, so I had told them they could play out in the courtyard that attached to the cafeteria in the centre of the school. That was where I found Beth and the kids that morning after I had showered and gotten dressed.

I was wearing my usual vest and button up and my new pair of jeans. Well, newish, second-hand jeans. Beth had tricked me into thinking she was going to fix my old pair for me, and she had ended up trashing them. My new pair I settled on after finding several pairs of skin tight, new age shit that kids wore before the world went to hell. I wouldn't be buried in them. These were the only ones that fit and I could run in. They didn't stay in their newish condition for long, running through the woods, killing walkers and skinning game, weren't work for new clothes.

The eleven kids we had taken charge of were playing on black and white tiles laid in a checkerboard pattern amongst the grass, while Beth sat on the loose gravel next to Mix, scrubbing clothes against the washboard. The kids giggled and squealed in delight, as they jumped from tile to tile trying not to fall off their specified colour.

Beth eyed over the stains on my jeans as I approached her. She looked to my face and I avoided her gaze, not wanting to lose another item of clothing I liked, and I looked to the kids playing.

"I think it's supposed to be a chessboard you know." Beth commented, as she watched me examining the board.

I scratched my chin thoughtfully. I had walked past those tiles a dozen times, but never thought you could play anything on it until now.

"You know, I think I saw some big-ass horse heads in the groundskeepers shed. Maybe they were chess pieces."

Her eyes lit up. "You should get them. I would love to beat you in a game of chess." She winked at me teasingly.

That was unlikely. Merle had become quite the master at chess while he was locked up, and he had taught me all the sneaky and successful tips of the trade.

"You're on." I challenged.

"Awse, Marie, Tomsee, Nate, Laws, come give me a hand." It had taken me a few days to learn all their names, and a few weeks to come up with nicknames for them.

The kids left their game and followed me, around the side of the building to the groundskeepers shed.

The horse heads had been poking out from under a dark tarp, and when I pulled it away I found pawns, knights, bishops, castles, queens and kings. The kids all grabbed two pieces each, and I filled my arms with as many as possible. Not wanting to make more than two trips if at all possible.

As I walked back around to the courtyard, I dropped one of the pawns and it rolled on the gravel and stopped in a dark ring of dried up oil that had been left by a car. It seemed quite long for your average car. I looked overhead to the high patio roof, whatever car had been here, it had been big…big enough to fit a shit-ton of kids…something like a school bus.

"Hey Awse." I called over to the blue eyed boy, who was trying to carry four pieces as if to prove something to me. The kid was always trying to impress me in some way. He had grown quite solid over the last month, being fed right and getting lots of sunshine and exercise. He was always telling me that his aim was to have guns as big as mine someday.

He looked up at me, while trying to balance his pieces, and waited for me to continue.

"Your old school…did it have a school bus?"

"Well it _was_ a school." He replied smartly.

"Alright smartass, do you think you can remember where they kept it?"

Austin pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Yeah probably, if I was there."

"You wanna come on a ride with me today?"

Austin dropped his load of chess pieces to the ground. "On your bike?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

"Hell yes!" His bright blue eyes filled with hope and enthusiasm.

"Alright eager beaver, you gotta pick up them pieces and take 'em over for me first."

Austin scooped up the pieces and juggled them in his arms as he raced back towards the courtyard, and I picked my pieces up and followed.

* * *

I couldn't leave without kicking Beth's ass in chess at least once. She pouted and accused me of cheating. I may have taken advantage of her rusty knowledge about the rules, but that wasn't cheating, just taking opportunity. We played another game and I let her win just for the sake of peace.

After that I collected my back pack, Airborne and the camera I had taken from the media room a few weeks back. I had never owned a camera before, except the crappy little one that was on my cell that I had before the turn. I liked to take it out with me and take snaps of what I found while out hunting or while on the road. Finding something pretty in this shit ugly world was my favourite subject, and every now and then I had the chance to capture it. I had to read a book as thick as my thumb to figure out how to use the thing and Beth had wanted me to teach the kids how to use it, along with painting after seeing my piece on the gym doors. She said with her teaching them music we could raise some real arty kids. But I refused both. I didn't have the patience she had.

Beth followed Austin and I around to the front gate, making a big fuss over me taking him out of the safety of the school. Saying he was too young and inexperienced, and he had chores and lessons to do, and so on. Austin and I rolled our eyes at each other and smirked in mutual understanding.

I climbed on to the bike that was parked by the entrance to the school under the steel and glass canopy. Austin jumped up on the bike behind me, carrying his backpack, and began fidgeting impatiently.

"You make sure you hold on to me tight, boy." I told him over my shoulder.

"_You_ ride real careful." Beth insisted.

I looked back to her.

"I ain't never put my bike down, and there ain't any competition out on them roads anyways."

"Well…You be real carful at that school too. We haven't been around that part of town much."

"I got my knife." Austin said as he dug into the leather sheathe I had fashioned for him out of deer hide using the tools from the workshop, and tanning it by boiling the deer's brain up in Beth's big pot…which she was not happy about.

Austin held up his knife, and I laughed to myself imagining little Austin taking on a walker with his tiny blade.

Beth glared at me, not finding anything humorous about Austin's ballsy attitude.

"You should take Mix with you." Beth suggested.

Mix happily bounded towards me at the mention of his name and stood at my feet begging to get on the bike.

"Nah. You know I like him to stay with you and the kids." Poor Mix looked like he desperately needed some time away from the women and children.

Beth smiled and gave Mix a rub on the head, and Mix licked her affectionately.

"Well...you take good care of each other, boys."

"We will…mom." I teased as I kicked the bike into action.

"Yeah…mom." Austin mimicked, I glanced over my shoulder at him disapprovingly. It wasn't the first time one of the kids had called her mom, and it irked me every time.

"I mean Miss Beth." Austin lowered his eyes to the bike below him.

Beth pouted at his response. I don't think the kids calling her mom bothered her as much as it bothered me.

Beth opened the gate for us, and then she waved us away as we rode down the hill and into town.

* * *

Austin had gone to the Benjamin Franklin Middle School before the outbreak. I had ridden past it a few times while going on supply runs, but I had never stopped in that area. It was made up of two separate buildings on the one site. Both built from terracotta coloured brick. The west building was a single story older looking building and the east was double story and newer. I parked the bike at the entrance to the west building, and took my camera out to take a snap of the two flag poles that were flying two tattered flags at half-mast.

I was a little wary about entering unknown territory with so few weapons. I had left the M16 at the school with Beth and had only taken my Airborne, Busse, and Austin's little knife. I hadn't come across anymore firearms on my travels. The Walmart and hunting shops had all been cleared out long ago. But I did manage to find some ammo for the M16, some crossbow bolts and I had also managed to work up some new arrows in the workshop at the school, and I kept them in my extra quiver I had made there. In a month of staying in Green Mount I had only come across a few dozen walkers, and no humans, so I hadn't the need for any extra firepower just yet.

I figured the school had been evacuated early, just like the town, as it was as quiet as a corpse in a library, but I still banged on the glass doors to see if anything stirred inside. Austin waited by my side with his fingers tapping on his blade at his hip nervously.

"You know if many kids were sick at your school when you left?"

"Yeah some were sick, and were sent home. My mom pulled me out of school as soon as all this stuff went on the news, so I don't know how many still came in after that."

There was no movement inside so I figured all the kids must have been brought home early. I picked up a loose brick from the wall of the garden bed and smashed the glass pane on the door so I could unlock it, and then we both made our way in.

The entrance hallway was really dark and dank, and foul smelling. It was nothing like the school we were staying in. Even the paintings and photographs on the walls were dull. It kind of reminded me of the school I went to as a kid…when I went to school. At the end of the entry way was a fire hose and a fire axe in a red cabinet. Austin opened it and pulled the axe out. It was only a small axe, more like a hatchet really.

"We need more weapons, right." He asked as he held it out in front of him.

"Can you swing that thing?"

Austin started twirling the axe using both hands like it was a samurai sword.

He smiled up at me, and I smiled back.

Austin led me through a series of dark hallways, littered with chairs and tables and torn up books. It was so dark down there that I had to get my flashlight out. I held it between my teeth while I kept my bow drawn, just in case.

"It's kinda creepy here, when it's all dark." Austin whispered.

"Always this dark in 'ere?" I mumbled around the flashlight.

Austin pointed up to the ceiling.

"They're usually lit up."

"Looks like no-ones been clearing the gutters." I said removing the flashlight and looking up to the skylights covered in dirt and leaves and other filth. "that's a fire hazard right there." I chuckled, and Austin screwed his face up, not getting my joke.

After getting near lost in a maze of black hallways we came to two large double doors that were heavily chained and padlocked. I put my Airborne under my arm and examined the lock. It was thick and locked tight.

Austin went to swing his axe at it and I stilled him.

"That ain't budgin." I mumbled with the light between my teeth.

Austin pouted and lowered his axe.

"Another way out back?" I asked Austin, taking the flashlight out of my mouth, and shining it on his face.

"Yeah, through the cafeteria, it's on the other side."

Austin waved for me to follow him, and I did, shining the light ahead so he could see where he was going.

We made our way to the other side of the building and down more winding corridors. Austin stopped in front of one of the doors, and I shined the light on it to see that it had a black '32' painted on it.

"That was my old classroom." He said pointing at the door. I tried looking through the tiny window, but it was so dusty I couldn't make anything out.

"You wanna take a look?" I asked him, and he nodded in reply.

"You open the door real slow like." I told him, as I put the torch back in my mouth and directed the beam of light at the handle. I drew back on my Airborne and then nodded for him to go ahead.

The handle turned easily and Austin slowly pushed the door open letting off a small squeak as it moved on its hinges.

The room was much brighter than the corridors. A whole wall was covered in dirty windows. The classroom was also filthy. Pens and pencils and papers were thrown all over the floor and several desks and chairs were upturned. The teacher's desk was leaning up against the blackboard, and someone had scrawled _'None are spared' _over the board again and again.

I took a picture of the board, while Austin poked around the room. He shoved some books and things into his backpack and then he turned over a desk and chair and sat at it facing the front of the classroom.

"This was my spot."

I turned around and looked at the bright face, bright eyed youth sitting amongst a disaster zone.

"Stay right there." I told him as I took a few snaps of him. I picked up a pencil and some paper from the floor and placed it on the desk in front of him.

"Make like your writin' somethin'."

Austin started scribbling across the page and I took a few more snaps of him.

"Best move on now." I said as I searched through the display looking at the snaps I had taken.

Austin took out his knife and started scratching into his desk. When he stepped away I looked at what he had done. It read _'Austin waz ere'_.

"That'd get you a detention, defacing school property like that." I said with a smirk. Austin smirked back, then sheathed his knife and picked up his axe and backpack and made his way back into the dark corridor.

The cafeteria was at the end of the corridor behind two large glass doors. It was dark inside, but there was a square of sun lit white on the opposite side of the room by the outside doors. It cast enough light into the room to reveal that it was swarming with walkers.

I put my finger to my lips to tell Austin to be quiet and he nodded.

"Is there another way out there?" I whispered.

"Only if you want to climb a barbed wire fence."

I frowned and then sidled up to the glass to assess our options.

There were a heap of tables and chairs in there that could provide good cover and the walkers were mainly little ones and all skin and bone. They had probably been rotting away in here since the beginning of the outbreak.

"If we're real careful, we might be able to avoid them." I whispered. "You stay right on my heels. I move you move. I stop you stop. I run you run. Got it?"

Austin nodded, and held his axe up on his shoulder.

I switched off the flashlight, tucked it into my pocket next to the almost empty pack of Marlboro lights, and carefully pulled down on the door handle. I eased it open inch by inch, trying to avoid any creaking, and trying not to gag when the smell of rot escaped. I motioned for Austin to go in and I followed him closing the door gently behind myself.

Once inside I dropped to my knees and crawled behind a table, trying to hold my Airborne off the floor so it didn't scrape and give away our position. We waited for a little girl with pig tails to shuffle past, before crouch running over to the nearby servery. We followed that along the length of most of the room and waited at the end, for another small group to shuffle past.

I mapped out my route to the door. Three tables to hide under, then I would have to rush at the door, get out there and close it behind us before the walkers could get to us. I pointed to the three tables and door indicating my plan and Austin nodded.

When the coast was clear we crouched over to the first table, and then we waited a moment before moving to the next. I made it over easy and turned back to watch Austin. On top of the table was a lunch tray. It had a fork hanging off the end caught under a plate. As Austin passed it the fork caught in the loop on his backpack and he started dragging it along. I tried waving to him to tell him to stop, but his eyes where fixed on the nearby walkers.

The fork fell to the floor bringing the tray and plate with it, and landing with a clang, bang and shatter to the floor.

"Shit." Austin hissed.

"Run." I called.

I stood up and shot the walker that was about to pounce on Austin, and Austin dodged away from its falling body and then raced over to me with his axe raised. I backed towards the door while firing arrows into the groaning, moaning and stumbling walkers who looked at us with empty sunken eyes.

Austin started fumbling at the lock. He clicked it open and pulled on the handle, while I emptied my second quiver.

"It's jammed." He cried.

I lowered my Airborne, turned my back to the walkers and slammed down on the handle trying to get it to turn.

I heard a battle cry from behind me and turned to see little Austin swinging his axe wildly around into walker skulls, sending black tar like gunk over the linoleum in long splatters. I watched him in awe as he dodged and weaved and spun, splitting skull after skull. The kid was a natural, I didn't even think he needed my help, but I pulled out my Busse and went to his aide anyway.

I grabbed hold of two tables at once and dragged them back towards the door to form a barricade around us, and from our safe position behind it we hacked, stabbed and slashed our way through what was left of the walkers.

"This is…kind of…fun, hey?" Austin called between hacks.

"Killing them…is not…supposed to… be fun." I replied, while stabbing.

When we were almost done the bodies of a few dozen walkers piled up in front of the tables. There was one walker left. It was small and slow and moaning weakly as it fell to the table and tried reaching towards us. It was just a kid. A little smaller than Austin, dressed in shorts and a striped tee and with only one jogger on his feet.

Austin stood before him with his axe raised, hesitating to take the swing.

"What's the matter?"

"It's…my best friend… John Clarke." He muttered.

I looked to the John's face, grey and drawn under a mess of blonde curls. There was something in his eyes, that I hardly saw in a walker. A flicker of emotion. Sadness, and hopelessness. I took my camera from my back pack and walked over to him and knelt so I could snap a close up of his face.

"Why are you taking its picture?" Austin asked with a raised eyebrow.

I pointed to the still struggling kid walker. "He was once a living person…I want to capture that."

Austin frowned at me and then looked back to his friend. I pulled out my Busse and ended the kid as humanely as possible.

"He never did like school." Austin muttered as he looked down on the corpse, finally at rest.

"Well, I just sent him home." I said as I dropped a comforting hand on his shoulder.

* * *

We checked the cafeteria kitchen after that. I figured it would still have some stock in it if it hadn't been touched in years. I found a few cans of beans, spam and tuna. And a few pounds of bread mix and sea salt. The mix was probably riddled with flour bugs, but it had been years since I had eaten bread, and the bugs would only add extra protein anyway.

The cafeteria door opened after a few firm shoves and we made our way to the back of the school and to a long patio area that sheltered the school buses. There were two big yellow things, and one smaller bus that looked like it might have been used for small group field trips. I tried them all out, but none of them kicked over. I had a feeling they would be no good. Batteries weren't made to sit around for years.

I popped the hood for the smaller bus and checked out the engine and battery. It looked like the same kind of battery you might have in a truck. I placed my palm against it, trying to measure it up, and took mental note of its type and then closed the hood. All I needed was to find a truck with a working battery of the same size and then we could pile the bus up with the kids and head into Washington.

We left the school feeling a little deflated about not getting the bus, but it was a relief that we weren't going to have to get rid of the bike just yet. Austin posed in front of the wall of the building for me to take one last snap and then waved goodbye to the school. He dropped his new axe into his backpack head first and pulled the zip up around the handle. Then we hopped back on the bike and I gave it a kick and let it roar to life.

"Hey Daryl?" Austin called over the bike.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go to my house? It's not far from here, just over on Trail Drive."

"Sure kid."

I applied the throttle and took off from the school car park and down the main road. Austin pointed out the way for me, and we came to a small single story home on a property a few minutes later. I parked the bike in the drive, grabbed my Airborne, just in case, and headed to the front door. The place was open and it looked as if it had been home to a family of goats the way everything was thrown about and torn to shit.

Austin walked through the house like it didn't bother him and went straight for his bedroom. I walked behind him and stopped and waited outside his door while he grabbed some toys and clothes. My eyes were fixed to a nail in the wall by his door and what was hanging from it. A thick, black leather belt.

Austin came out of his room and looked at me while I stared at the belt.

"My dad put that there to scare me." Austin explained pointing at the belt.

"He use it on you?"

"Yeah a couple of times."

Austin lifted his backpack and sweater and showed me a thin silvery line just above his backside.

"Left this once. Pretty cool huh?"

"No it ain't." I said as I pulled his sweater back down.

"I was kinda a shitty kid. I probably deserved it."

"No. You didn't." I snapped.

"Whatever." Austin said with a shrug and sauntered off down the hall.

We passed an open door into an almost immaculate nursery. It looked like it had never been touched. It probably hadn't. Austin's mom most likely had Jamie over at the school after the outbreak.

"You know, I coulda gone...to the capitol. I was old enough. But I stayed 'cause they wouldn't take Jamie."

"You did good kid. That's what a big brothers is supposed to do. Stay."

Austin frowned at the room and continued down the hall. I reached in and closed the door hoping to preserve it in its current state.

I followed him down into the dirty master bedroom, littered with clothing and trash and I watched him as he sifted through his parents belongings.

He went through the drawer by the bedside and pulled out a white pack with a coloured line on the side.

"Here you go." He tossed the pack towards me, and I looked it over.

"Virginia Slims?"

"Yeah my mom used to smoke 'em all the time. You ran out right?"

"Yeah I did…but these are kind of girls smokes."

Hell, I wasn't gonna be fussy. I pulled one out of the half full pack lit it and took a long drag. Austin smiled at me, and I thought about what Beth would say about me smoking around a kid. I put the cigarette out in the ashtray by the bed and then put it back into the pack, and put the pack in my pocket next to the Marlboro lights packet.

Austin sifted through the draw again and pulled out a pair of shades. He tossed those over to me too.

"Awesome, Awse." I flicked them open and slipped them on, and looked around the now dark room. It was just what I needed for riding the bike.

"They were my dad's." Austin said with a grin.

I took the glasses off and threw them on to the dirty ground.

"Don't need 'em."

There was something about this place that made me feel unsettled. His mom smoked the same cigarettes as the ones that killed my own mom, his dad used to beat him, and sometimes the things the kid said and did reminded me of myself. I wondered what would have happened to him, if the world hadn't gone to shit. Would he better or worse off?

"Let's get out of 'ere, kid. It's givin' me the creeps."

* * *

That night back at the school after the kids had been fed and washed and tucked in to bed, Beth sat on the arm of the couch strumming on her guitar and humming. She looked super cute sitting there in my old sweater, that was so large it slumped off her shoulder, and the guitar across her lap. Every now and then she would stop and then scribble into her journal and then go back to strumming and humming.

I pulled off my clothes and boots, and climbed into my sweat pants that I had taken a favour to sleeping in.

"Finished yet?" I asked when I was ready for bed.

She frowned. "Almost."

I gave a long sigh and then climbed into the bed and looked up at the ceiling fan. Beth put the guitar down and slid in beside me and put her head on my chest.

"You disappointed about today?" She asked.

"Yeah a lil'."

"You shouldn't be." She stroked gently over my chest.

"Jus', it's been a month since we seen the others. Got no clue what's goin' on over there. If they ever made it. If they're all okay…"

"They are." Beth said surely.

She took in a deep breath as if the was thinking something over.

"You know…even if you find that battery…I'm not so sure we should leave this place."

I glanced down at her and she looked up.

"I mean…it's got everything we need here. It's quiet and safe…And Washington is where the other adults went…They said there was no place for them…what if they don't let the kids in? It's not like we can leave them... You know back at the prison? I was meant to get the kids on the bus, and I couldn't find them...and then we found that shoe on the rail tracks..."

She paused to take in a gulp of air. "...I gotta make up for failing them. We gotta do right by these kids."

"What about Maggie and the others?"

Beth frowned and looked to my chest.

"I miss her. I miss everyone…especially Judith. But David said somethin' about Mix always going where he was needed, and he led us here. I think we should stay…I think this is where we belong."

My guts grew tight in anxiety as I thought about staying here forever just me and Beth and the kids. I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment and responsibility.

"I ain't Rick." I said looking down on her bright blue eyes. "I ain't no Gareth or Joe…I ain't even the governor…and I certainly ain't no lord of flies."

"Lord of flies?"

"Yeah it's in a book I read in high school…these kids get stranded on an island and they have to do all crazy shit to survive and…never mind. What I'm tryna say is, I would be the only adult and I ain't a leader."

Beth sat up and looked down on me with a wry smile on her face.

"_only_ adult?"

"You know what I mean...the oldest. The one with the responsibility. I'm no good at all that."

"I'll help you, you know the _other_ adult…and you are good at it. You've done an amazing job with these kids so far, and I remember what you did back at the prison for Rick…after Lori died."

"That was different, I had the others there…we had the council…your dad."

Beth frowned at the mention of her dad, and dropped her head back to my chest.

"I just wanna stop runnin' you know?"

I was used to running. I ran my whole life. But Beth…and these kids, deserved some stability. I let out a deep resolved sigh.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"We'll stay."

Beth shot up and flashed me a wide grin, before leaning forward to give me a heavy wet kiss, which was going to haunt me all night.

* * *

**AN: Those new chapters are up at the very start of the story. Check them out if you like.** **Hope the chapter shuffle didn't confuse you too much.**

**Please go ahead and review/favourite/follow/share. Every time I see those numbers change I feel motivated to write more and better. :)**


	29. Meeting Mary

**AN: As Mr Mackey says: Drugs are bad MmmKay**

**I totally butchered the lyrics in Emily Kinney's 'Kids' so it fit in with my story. **

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where we belong - Chapter V**

**Meeting Mary**

It was poking into my backside again. Like it did every morning. And like every morning I closed my eyes against the dawn light creeping through the window blinds, and repeated my Mantra in my head.

_It's Daryl. It's Daryl. It's Daryl._

But it never gave me the strength to do anything about it. I was never able to roll over towards him, rip his sweat pants off and climb on top, as I had played it out in my mind so many times. So I just lay there, allowing him to press it in to the fleshy parts of me, while he shifted and sighed uncomfortably, and I stared at the grain in the leather on the sofa.

Some mornings he would rub his warm and rough hands over my skin, and cause my spine to shiver and my hair to stand on end. And some mornings he would simply give me a quick kiss on the cheek and then jump out of bed trying to avoid touching any other part of me.

On this particular morning it was the former. He had wrapped his arm around me and drew my body back into him firmly. He pressed his erection into me so hard, that I was sure my backbone was going to end up black and blue. Then he rubbed his hand firmly over the fleece that clung to my breast, and then dragged his hand down to my waist kneading and caressing me on the way. He had tucked his fingers under my sweatshirt and gently circled his fingers under the fabric trailing back and forth across my skin and circling around my naval. It felt nice. Real nice. And the usual twitching and clenching between my legs started.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my ear and rested them there for a moment before speaking.

"You awake?" He murmured.

I tried to speak, but the words where caught in my throat so I just nodded.

He pressed two fingers into the fleshy part of my belly, and started walking them down towards the waistband of my panties, and then he slipped them under it and made his way down under the cotton fabric.

I held my breath, unsure of what thoughts or feelings his touch on that part of my body would bring.

He wound his fingers slowly through the curls, wrapping them across his fingers, and then pushed further down, to my most delicate spot. He pushed a single finger down over it and pressed it inwards firmly, and I let out a moan, as everything in the area began to tingle and throb.

_So far, so good._

He began rubbing in a firm circular motion, while he placed wet kisses over my shoulder and neck, and I sighed and gasped as the throbbing intensified. I gripped onto the blanket with one hand, and with the other I ran it over the solid muscles of his forearm, feeling them roll beneath my fingers as he worked on me.

_You're doing it!_

I let out a loud groan as I threw my head back, curled my toes, and arched my back, which pressed his erection in to my backside even harder. He let out his own groan and then tucked my pelvis into his, using the hand that was fondling with my sweet-spot.

He moved his finger down delicately towards my quivering, wet opening, and slipped it inside me up to the last knuckle.

I gasped again at the sudden, intense and foreign sensation. It had been nearly two months since anything had been in there, and it almost felt like I was untouched and new. As he rubbed the finger back and forth pulling it in and out of me rapidly, slapping his palm against my pearl, I thought of the last thing that was in there.

It was not Daryl's finger, it wasn't his tongue, and it wasn't his erection. It wasn't anything that belonged to Daryl.

"Stop." I gasped urgently as I put my hand to his wrist and dragged it away from me.

Daryl let out a sigh and lay still behind me for a few moments, with his wet hand still on my hip.

"…I'm sorry." I muttered

I felt him shift behind me, and then he was sitting up and leaning over so he could see my face.

"Does it hurt or somethin'?"

I shook my head.

"Only in here." I brought my fingers to my chest and pushed them into the plush grey fleece of the sweater, indicating the position of my fluttering heart.

_You have to put it away. You have to. Or it kills you._

Daryl let out another sigh and kissed me on my shoulder, exposed by the loose collar of the sweater.

"It'll get better." He murmured against my skin.

I reached over my shoulder to grab his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I know it will."

He gave me a grin and a gently chuck below the chin.

"I'mma take a shower."

He rolled away from me and crawled off the makeshift sofa bed and onto the floor. I rolled over to my stomach so I could watch him as he groaned, and stretched the muscles on his toned back, while pressing his shapely arms into the air.

He had been taking a lot of showers lately. He had been having one every single morning for at least two weeks. That was more than what I was having. It was more than he had ever taken in the whole time I had known him. I guessed he just liked to take advantage of the fact that we _had_ hot water to shower with. But I didn't know how he would continue with his ritual come summer when the water supply started to dry up.

"You go back to sleep." He said over his shoulder before bending to collect his clothing and boots off the floor.

I couldn't go back to sleep. My pulse was still racing from what had happened that morning. Or what had failed to happen. I wished I was stronger, more resilient. Like these children we took care of. Their parents had all died, and then the people who should have taken care of them had all left them alone for months. They had been locked inside a room with a decaying body. They had seen their friends and family die. Yet every day they got up bright eyed and smiling, and laughed and played the day away, in a way only kids seemed to know how.

I stretched out, arching my back and pressing my shoulders and backside to the ceiling and then I reached down over the arm of the sofa to grab my guitar. I pulled it on to my lap and started plucking at the strings, humming along as I sung the lyrics in my head of the song I had been writing over the past couple of weeks. Daryl was standing with his hand on the door handle to the corridor, watching me with a tranquil smile on his face.

"Why don't you ever let me hear it?"

I stopped playing and humming. "Hear what?"

"What you been writin'."

I pursed my lips as I thought it over. The song I had been writing had been all about me getting over my fear of being with him. I didn't want to sing it to him until I was sure I _was_ over my fear.

"Why don't you let me see your pictures?" I asked, trying to shift the focus of conversation.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and looked down to his bare feet.

"I dunno…they're kinda for myself, you know? They help me think about shit. I ain't no performin' seal, just wanna way to keep my thoughts."

I gave him a reassuring smile, happy that he was finding a healthy way to explore what was going on his mind.  
"I _will_ let you hear it…when it's ready."

Daryl pressed his lips together as if in thought and nodded his head slowly at me. "I'll let you see my snaps…When I'm ready."

With that he slipped out the door, and I reached down to grab my journal. I flipped the page over and pulled out my pen to write down the new lyrics I had thought of. A blue line trailed out of the pen on to the page and then disappeared. I shook the pen and then scribbled it on the corner of the page, but it just left a mess of ridges.

I put the journal down and climbed off the bed and went searching in the supply cabinet for a new pen. The large oak cabinet under the aerial photograph of the school was where I had found boxes of paper and other supplies before, and I figured it might have pens in there too. I opened the cabinet and moved some boxes around, opening them up to check the contents and putting them back. The first shelf was nothing but paper, staples and paper clips, so I moved to the bottom shelf, reaching to the back of the cabinet until my hands rested on a cold, hard, metal box. I dragged it out to find that it was a lock box, with a keyhole for a tiny key.

I had found a key earlier when we had first moved in here and taped it into my journal hoping to find what it opened. The slot in the lock looked about the size and shape of the key, so I went to my journal, took it out and tried it out. The lock clicked as the tumbler slid to the side, and the lid popped open like a jack in the box.

There were a few cell phones, a bean filled, multi-coloured ball, some magazines and a small silver, floral engraved flask with a screw top lid, which looked similar to one daddy once owned. I gave it a shake, and estimated that there was still something left in it, but not much. I unscrewed the lid and smelt the contents. It was a strong odour that burnt the inside of my nose. At a guess I would say whiskey, but I wasn't too knowledgeable on the smell of liquor. I put it back in the box and picked up one of the magazines and studied the topless woman on the cover posing on a red car. It had captions on it like 'World class head, celebrity tits' and 'cock control:101.' The second one was similar, but had a completely naked woman leaning over a bath tub with bubbles slipping down her thighs. The third one was written in a foreign language, Western European by the look. The front cover just had a woman's face so I flicked through the pages, curious about its contents. It was filled with images of things that were probably supposed to be sexual, but they just looked painful and inhumanly possible to me. I dropped the magazine straight down into the box like it was a hot coal, and slammed the lid of the lock box shut, and closed my eyes as I tried to push the images burnt into the back of my skull out of my mind. I figured it must have been items that were confiscated from the students, and I wondered if the principal had deliberately kept them or if he had just never been able to give them back.

I found a box of pens, next to the lock box, so I took one out and went back to my journal to edit my lyrics. Then I gave them a run through.

_Forget the _pastwe've_ had, forget the pain we've lived  
Oh you and I are experts at pretending to be kids  
Wash off all your grass stains, I'll pull off my shoes  
Let's love like we are kids …all shiny and new_

The mention of grass stains made me think of the current state of Daryl's clothes. They were absolutely filthy. He wouldn't let me anywhere near them after I had thrown his last pair of pants out. It seemed pointless having all the showers he was having if he kept putting the same sweaty, dirty, bloody clothes back on.

I put down my journal and went looking for my sweatpants, before racing out the door, hoping I could catch Daryl before he finished his shower and my opportunity was lost.

* * *

It had only just come to dawn, and the school corridors were dim and dark, and the linoleum floor was icy under my feet. I tucked my hands inside the sleeves of the oversized sweater and gave a little shudder as I made my way towards the change room door. I put my sweatshirt fleece covered hand to the door handle and pushed it down. Unlocked. That was good; I could steal his clothes without him even knowing. I ducked quietly through the door, softy closed it behind me and then padded over to the shower area keeping low and crouching behind the tiled half wall. I could hear the water pattering down on the tiles, and I could hear Daryl too. It sounded like he was sighing, or panting…was he crying? I stood up straight to see what the matter was, and tried not to collapse in laughter at the sight of him.

He was standing with his back to me, with his left arm braced against the wall and his head under the stream of water. His long hair was falling thick and soaked in front of his face, and the water was cascading down over his shoulder blades, his back and backside, making the tattoos and scars that lived there shine and shimmer in the morning light. His right arm was bent out towards me and his hand was reaching between his legs. His muscular arm was jerking up and down in a fast rhythmic motion.

Daryl turned sharply at the sound of my stifled chuckling and nearly lost his balance, slipping on the wet floor. He steadied himself with the hand on the wall, while he tried to cover himself with the other hand, but it was no use. His erection grew straight out of his hand like a tree from the earth.

"What the fuck, Greene?" He cried.

"What are you doin'?" I asked, between giggles.

"What am I… Just get out!" He took his hand off the wall and then pointed to the door, and then put it back on top of his other hand covering the remainder of his erection.

I walked casually over to his pile of clothes on the floor.

"You know the door was unlocked…what if one of the kids came in and saw…that." I let out another chuckle.

"They're all sleepin'…and you're s'pose to be playin' that damn six string…and get the fuck out!"

"Let me do somethin' about these for you." I snatched up the clothes by my feet leaving only his sweat pants, and then backed to the door.

"Greene, if you throw out any of my shit…I'll put you to my knee and spank you." He threatened half-heartedly.

I ducked through the doors opening.

"Better finish spanking that first." I teased as I pointed to his hand-covered erection and then shut the door behind me.

* * *

I couldn't get the smile of my face as I walked back through the hallway and upstairs to our room. I danced back through the corridor of the faculty offices, with visions of the wet, jerking Daryl in my mind, and was startled when I saw a tiny shadow standing by my door.

It was little Winnie, with her curly hair growing wild by her face. She was standing in her night dress with a threadbare, sagging teddy tucked under her arm as she rubbed at her big brown eyes.

"What's the matter Winnie?" I asked her, even though I knew she couldn't respond. She pattered towards me, wrapped her arms around my legs and pushed her face into my thigh.

"Did you have a bad dream?" I asked as I looked down on her.

She looked up at me and nodded.

"Do you want me to take you back to bed?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want to help me get breakfast started?"

She nodded.

I tucked Daryl's clothes under my arm and then took Winnie's tiny hand and led her downstairs to the cafeteria kitchen.

I dumped his clothes onto the stainless steel bench next to the wash bucket and washboard, and then helped Winnie to climb up on to the bench beside the cook top. I fished out some eggs from the basket, a large bowl and a beater and put them on the bench next to Winnie.

"Do you wanna scramble the eggs for me?"

Winnie beamed up at me and nodded. Winnie loved helping me with everything. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, collecting eggs, milking the cow, perimeter checks. She was always right by my side, watching my every move.

I helped her crack the eggs into the bowl and then handed her the beater and she began whipping it around in the bowl as fast as her little arms could.

While she did that I sliced some bread from the loaf I had baked the day before, and put it under the griller to toast it.

"Miss Beth." Came a soft voice, as tiny as a mouse's squeak. My jaw dropped and I turned my face towards the normally silent little girl who had just spoken her first words in my presence.

"Y...yes?"

Winnie looked down into the frothy sludge of white and yellow she was mixing.

"Are you my momma?"

I caught my breathe at both the nature of the question and the normally mute person who was asking it. I shook away my shock and then put my hand to her tiny arm.

"I'm not your momma, Winnie. Your momma died when you were little."

Winnie pouted into the bowl, and my heart sank at her disappointed expression.

"…but I do care about you. Very, very much. You and all the kids here."

"What is a momma?" She asked in speech that was so clear, I was sure she had been rehearsing it in her mind for weeks.

"…well…it's someone who looks out for you; washes your clothes, and feeds you, and cleans you, and plays with you, and reads you bed time stories, wipes away your tears, tries to keep you safe…and who cares for you."

Winnie's face screwed up in confusion.

"Marie says that's what _you_ do…so you are my momma?"

"No I'm…" I paused for a moment of thought. "…Sort of…I'm like your surrogate momma. A momma who takes care of you when your other momma can't."

Winnie started pouting again.

"But…if you like...you can call me momma."

Daryl would be furious at me for saying that. He was constantly growling at the kids for calling me mom or him dad, even though most times it was an accident. He didn't want me to get too attached to the children. He kept telling me the little ones never lasted long, but I knew these little ones would always be safe with us.

Winnie pushed the bowl away and leant her tiny body forward and wrapped her arms around me, and I returned the embrace while I stroked my hand through her curly hair.

My heart sunk into my stomach as I thought about the other little girl I had left behind, who I thought might one day ask to call me momma.

* * *

Once the eggs and toast were cooked I went back upstairs to get dressed and call everyone to breakfast. Daryl had been outside, sharpening his knife with Mix by his side, and I called him in to eat with us. He came in and sat by one of the circular tables, blushing and avoiding my eyes. I grinned at him, and relished in the idea that I had something to tease him about.

When the children all had their plates I went to bring Daryl his plate and eat by him. He shifted uncomfortably in my presence, while shovelling the wobbling eggs into his mouth.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I tried to sound as sincere as possible, although the thought of Daryl in the shower still made me smile.

He swallowed. "Nah, I shoulda locked the door. Was stupid."

"…not about that…_that_ made my morning…"

He stopped poking at the eggs and clenched his jaw.

"…I'm sorry that I made you wait."

He turned his head to look at me, while slowly chewing.

"I said it's okay." He mumbled.

"I know…I just don't think I can…yet." My amusing thoughts of watching him fondle himself in the shower were now replaced with anxious thoughts about never being able to give myself to him again.

"It's cool, Greene." He flashed a comforting grin at me, and I wondered how much of it was forced.

Daryl finished what he was eating and then declared he was going to get some dinner for tonight.

"You take Mix with you." I insisted, pointing a firm finger at him.

"You know I like 'im to stay with you and the kids." He argued.

I crossed my arms over my chest staunchly.

"No. That's bein' unreasonable. We've been here for nearly two months and we've never had a large herd come through here, and even if we did, these fences are secure. Out there in the wild you have nothin'… Mix goes where he's needed, and he's needed with you."

Mix started pawing at the glass door from outside in the courtyard as if he could hear us talking about him.

Daryl sighed in resignation.

"Okay. Need some man time I guess." He replied with a smirk.

As if he had been listening to our conversation all along, Austin piped in from the table across from ours.

"Can I come?"

"Sure…" Daryl started.

"No." I interrupted. "You have chores and lessons to do. You haven't finished that character work for me yet."

Austin groaned and pouted and poked at his eggs, sullenly.

"Think that one might be an outdoor cat." Daryl said with a frown while he nodded his head towards the sulking boy. He gave his head a gently shake as if shifting a thought and then gave me a kiss on the cheek before collected his gear and leaving through the glass doors to the courtyard.

After we had all eaten, I called the older children to do their chores while I took the wash basket outside to do the laundry. I sat down on the gravel while I watched the younger children play their crossover version of chess and knights and dragons on the black and white tiles.

I washed my clothes first as they were the cleanest, and then the children's, and then went to do Daryl's, which were encrusted with thick brown and black gunk.

I emptied all of his pockets to find his red rag, a few balls of lint, a piece of dried jerky, a ball of string, a lighter, a list of shopping supplies and a packet of cigarettes. He had run out of his last pack of cigarettes a couple of days ago. They had been the Virginia slims he had picked up from Austin's house, that he said his own mother used to smoke. This pack was like the ones he had before; The Marlboro lights. He had smoked his last one over a month ago I was sure. I opened it up to see it wasn't empty. There were still two cigarettes left, and I wondered why he had complained about smoking girl's cigarettes if he still had two of his other ones left. I examined them closer. They were different from regular cigarettes, thicker and hand rolled. I took one out to examine it and have a smell.

It wasn't a cigarette at all. It was one of the…what did people call them? Joints. The one's I told him I didn't want to smoke back at the motel. Had he kept them all this time? I thought he had thrown them away; at least that is what he had led me to believe. Was this why he had been so guarded about his clothing? And why was he keeping secrets from me anyway?

I put them back in the packet and tucked the pack inside my shirt. We would have a talk about it when he got home.

I hung the clothes up on the strings I had tied to the steel posts supporting the courtyard canopy, and then collected my crossbow for some target practice.

The practice wasn't so much for hitting targets, as all I had to practice on was a cross on the tree, chipped away by arrow holes. There wasn't any challenge hitting stationary targets, but the only thing we had around that moved was the odd walker, and we saw them so rarely.

I used the time to practice stringing the bow. Although I felt safe within these walls, Daryl was always insisting I work on the speed that I used it in-case there came a time when I needed it. I was getting much better at it now, and it was only taking me a few seconds to string it between shots, although it still strained my muscles and tore against the soft skin on my hands, and I was sure my arms would be as solid as Daryl's one day soon.

When the kids had finished their chores we went into the classroom to do their daily lessons. The younger kids had been reading a book, and drawing their favourite character, and the older kids had been working on good and bad stereotypes in movies. Daryl thought it was a waste of time teaching the kids English. He said it wasn't like they were going to become professors or anything anyway, but I insisted. I hoped that one day the world would need educated young people, once again.

I was kneeling by Marie's desk helping with her work when Winnie came up to me and presented me with a crayon drawing of a stick figure woman with a pink triangular dress and waving yellow hair.

"I drew you momma." She called in her small, soft voice, waiting for approval.

The children all stopped what they were doing and looked to Winnie, looking shocked at her sudden ability to speak, and also at what she had said.

"She's not your momma, Winnie." Her brother, Tommy C, called from behind me as he looked over my shoulder at the drawing, and then glanced at me warily.

"It's okay…she can call me that…if she wants."

"I want to call you momma too." Cried Lyra.

"Me too." Came a staggered chorus of voices, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed. Daryl would be mortified with me.

"I ain't callin' you momma." Came Daryl's voice right out of Austin's mouth.

I looked over to the boy who was holding the pencil in his hand to his paper and frowning at me.

"You don't have to…I just thought…"

We were interrupted by a tap at the door, and by Daryl seen through the glass pane with a big smile upon his grime covered face, and dangling a grey furred rabbit in the air.

Welcoming the interruption I went over and opened the door for him. He lifted the rope over his shoulder to show two more rabbits strung by the neck.

"Spring rabbits." He beamed. "Who wants to help me skin 'em." He called to the children.

"Me!" Called Austin, throwing his pencil to his desk and kicking his chair out.

"No you need to finish your work." I told him firmly. He ignored me and pushed past me out the door to stand behind Daryl.

"Outdoor cat." Daryl said with a shrug, and they both walked off down the corridor, and out of sight.

* * *

Later that night after a warm rabbit and vegetable stew seasoned with fresh herbs, I tucked the kids into bed, while Daryl did a perimeter check with Mix. I went downstairs for a quick shower before bed, and to wash my hair after an afternoon of digging through the vegetable garden.

When I got back upstairs to the darkened principal's office, lit only with moonlight, I flicked on the desk lamp illuminating the room with warmth, and rehearsed in my head what I was going to say to Daryl about the…joints, when he got back.

He had clearly kept them secret from me, which I didn't like. But he also hadn't smoked them. Maybe he was saving them for something. Maybe he thought he might convince me to smoke them with him one day. I didn't ever think I would, but once upon a time alcohol had helped me to let go of my worries, and it had opened up my relationship with Daryl. Maybe he did save them for a purpose after all. Maybe this was what I needed to let go of my fears and inhibitions.

My thoughts slipped to the flask of whiskey in the lockbox. I had more experience with alcohol. Maybe that was what I needed to give me the confidence I needed I talk to him, and maybe to do other things with him too. I went to the box and pulled out the flask and opened it to smell the contents once more, and screwed up my nose at the harsh smelling liquor.

At that moment Daryl walked in and I shoved the lockbox back in the cabinet and closed it, before turning to him holding the flask behind my back.

"Man I'm beat." Daryl groaned as he dropped himself down on the arm of the sofa and pulled off his mud encrusted boots, which crumbled dirt on to the rug.

He pulled off the baggy torn sweat pants he had worn as a replacement to his jeans and kicked them into the corner of the room, and then tore off the black rocker tee, he had used as a replacement to his flannel.

"Hey, you wash my clothes yet?" He asked as he pulled on his sleeping sweats.

"I sure did." I replied in a reserved tone.

He furrowed his brow, and looked towards my arms that were bent behind my back.

"Somethin' the matter?"

I pulled out the flask and held it in front of my face to examine it.

"Let's play a game." I said.

"What is that?" He asked stepping towards me.

I backed away.

"I think it's whiskey."

"You wanna get drunk?" He asked with an amused chuckle.

"Maybe." I said with a shrug. "Let's play….I never."

I held the flask up between the two of us in a mock toast.

"I dunno, Beth, we gotta keep our heads in-case…"

"I've never…" I interrupted. "Masturbated in the shower." I smirked at him and then took a swig. The taste was a little like molasses and it burnt my throat as it went down, and caused immediate warmth in my belly.

"I don't think that's how it's done." Daryl said with a chuckle, before reaching forward to grab the flask. I ducked out of his reach again.

"I've never…shot myself with an arrow." I took another swig.

"Hey, that ain't fair, smartass." Daryl said in a tone of false offense. "It was your darn ponies fault… and that's not how you play."

"I've never…broken into a school so I could steal stuff to make drugs."

The smile on Daryl's face fell and he glowered at me.

Watching him intensely I took another swig without letting my eyes leave his. I strolled around him and paced casually over to the other side of the room turning my back to him.

"I've never spent a whole day 'hunting'." I made quote marks in the air. "And come back empty handed and covered in blood." I took another swig and then turned back to face him. I was already starting to feel warm from the whiskey and my face was burning and my hands and feet were throbbing.

"I've never kept somethin' from you." I tipped the flask into my mouth and swallowed the last drop. Then I turned it upside down and gave it a shake so a few drops came out and landed on the floor rug.

"Oops, it's all gone, and you haven't had your turn yet." I tossed the flask over my shoulder, and heard it thud somewhere behind me.

"Beth, what's this all about…"

I held up my finger to silence him and then pulled the Marlboro packet out of my sweater. He glanced at it and then groaned and pressed his hands to his head, pointing his elbows to the side.

"I meant to tell you…"

"I've never…" I interrupted, while pulling out a…Joint. "Been…" I racked my brain for the right word. "…stoned."

Daryl dropped his arms to his side and slumped over guiltily while looking up at me with a frown on his face.

"Do you have a lighter?" I asked as I placed the joint between my lips.

I watched in delight as a smile slowly crept on to Daryl's face as he straightened out in front of me.

"You wanna get stoned?"

I shrugged. "Why not?"

Daryl reached forward and snatched it out of my mouth, and then turned back to the sofa. He sifted through the pocket in the sweat pants he had worn that day and pulled out a lighter and then casually lay across the sofa and put the joint in his mouth

"Come over 'ere girl." He mumbled with his lips around the joint, while waving me over and then lighting it.

I sauntered over to him, feeling a little light headed and unsteady on my feet, and climbed on to the sofa across from his and sat cross legged, watching as his cheeks hollowed out as he sucked on the joint. He took the joint out and held his fist to his lips, while giving a little choking sound as if he was trying to hold n a laugh. Then he blew out a stream of smoke slowly into the air.

"Ain't too bad for three year old shit." He commented.

He sat up and then held the joint towards my mouth. I put my lips warily around the end of it, feeling like a complete novice.

"You gotta inhale it…not suck it." He advised me. "And try to hold it in for a lil'."

He re-lit it and then waved for me to continue.

I did as I was told inhaling deeply and then choking as the smoke filled my lungs. I spat it straight out and started coughing and spluttering, while scratching at my burning throat and gasping for air.

"That's…awful." I choked out between coughs.

Daryl chortled at me while he went searching for a bottle of water and threw it my way before joining me back on the sofa bed. I gulped down the water, letting the cool sensation relive the burning itch.

"You're a lil' green, Greene." Daryl chuckled to himself. "Here try again." He held it towards my lips.

"Aren't you gonna have some more?" I asked

"Nah, I can't get high, girl. I gotta take care of you. You already been drinkin', wouldn't be much of a chaperone now would I?"

I shrugged my shoulder and took the joint to my lips again. This time I tried to withhold my coughs and held the smoke in while I puffed out my cheeks.

Daryl threw his head back and laughed up at the celling, his whole body trembling in amusement.

"You look like a blonde chimpanzee." He looked back at me, with a dopey grin on his face.

I blew out the smoke and gave another cough.

"Shuddup." I cried playfully. "You have another now."

My hands were starting to feel all tingly, and my face felt really heavy, and I wondered if I was drunk, or stoned or both.

Daryl took another small puff, and then put it back to my lips, and I inhaled deeply. I blew it out and took another swig of the water to sooth my throat and then looked to Daryl's grinning face.

"You're a motherfuckin' stoner lil' Miss Greene."

I shrugged, and feeling happy and relaxed, I opened my mouth waiting for him to hit me with it again.

"Nah, girl that shits pretty strong. Best save it for another night, hey?"

I shook my head. "One night only. After tonight I'm throwin' it."

Daryl looked hesitant, but shrugged his shoulders anyway, and held it out for me.

"Okay one more."

I took another puff and then Daryl leaned over the side of the sofa and put the joint out using the bottom of his boot.

"How you feelin'?" He asked when he had returned to his position sitting across from me.

"I feel…warm…and happy…and like laughing at something stupid." I started giggling at my own words, somehow finding them hilarious.

"I think I might be a little bit drunk."

Daryl frowned. "Yep, thinkin' I might have my work cut out for me tonight."

I suddenly found the courage to ask him something that had been on my mind since when we had first arrived at the school.

"The drugs that you said you could make with the stuff from the chemistry lab… Did you take them?"

Daryl flicked his eyes towards me and then looked down at his crossed legs and gave his shoulders a shrug.

"I ain't gonna lie, I tried just 'bout everythin' once. But Merle started runnin' the shit when I was still a kid. I saw 'nough fucked up users to know not to get hooked on nothin'. I had a bit of E, and smoked a bit o' crystal after Merle gave me a hard time and I was bein' too much of a pussy to stand up for myself. I tried shrooms and acid, just 'cause I wanted to know if I would see walkin' eyeballs or some shit. Had a weekend bender on blow that didn't end too great. Knew not to go there again. Never ever did no mothafuckin' smack, and if Merle ever touched the shit I woulda beat his dumbass down. My only real poison was Mary and Moonshine."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I liked the sound of his last line.

"Mary and Moonshine." I repeated enjoying how the alliteration rolled off my tongue and then giggling at the sound of my own voice.

"You know that song…the one that goes. _I'm in love with Mary Jane…she's my main thing_." I sang the lyrics for him.

"Yeah I think I know the one."

"That's not about him bein' in love with a girl is it?"

Daryl chuckled. "If a song has Mary-Jane in it, then it's probably not about a girl named Mary-Jane."

I searched my brain thinking of all the songs I had heard that mentioned Mary-Jane, and laughed at the sheer volume that came to mind.

"Gee, a lot of people smoke drugs, hey?"

"I told ya. It's no drug. The government fills your head with bullshit. Control the masses and all that other shit."

"I think it was the government."

"You do?"

"Yeah. The government made us all sick."

Daryl threw his head back and brayed like a donkey.

"Greene, you're as high as a mothafuckin' kite on helium." He wiped away tears from his eyes.

"No I'm not. I just see things clearer now."

Daryl sniggered.

"Okay I'll hear you out. Why did the government make us all sick?"

"They wanted to make super humans who couldn't be killed… and send them off to war."

"This is fuckin' hilarious." Daryl continued to laugh at me batting his hands against his knees, with tears streaming down his face.

"No I'm serious! I know they can do that, I know they have biochemical weapons and stuff."

Daryl sighed and made feeble attempts at controlling his laughter.

"Okay, so if our government was usin' this weapon to fight in wars, then why is it destroyin' the country they're tryna protect?"

I shrugged.

"It was a mistake. They just wanted to test it on a small area. Like at Roswell or somethin', and it got out of hand."

"Where the aliens are?"

"Yeah they must have tested it on aliens and it mutated or somethin' and now instead of making us stronger it just makes us fall apart and makes us real, real hungry, like we have to eat brains and stuff."

Daryl chuckled and shook his head.

"Okay you're ruinin' my buzz now, girl. Let's change the subject."

I tried to think of another subject, but my clouded head was still on walkers.

"Walkers is such a dumb name."

"Whatya prefer, Geeks?"

"No that's stupid too. And so is biters, and freaks, and rotters…we should call them…zzz" I chuckled as the sound vibrated my tongue. "zzzz….zombies!"

"Zombie's? Now _that_ is a dumbass name."

"Yeah, let's call 'em zombies…." I held my hands out in front of me and rolled my eyes back into my head. "braaaaaaiinsss."

Daryl started laughing at me again, his face bright red and tears forming in his eyes again.

"Too bad this is one night only, Greene. People would pay a pretty penny to see this shit."

I smiled at him, thinking how this was the most I had ever seen him laugh before, and then I started rubbing my belly as my thoughts slipped back to hungry walkers looking for brains. Although I would prefer something more tasty than brains. Something crunchy and cheesy.

"I'm real hungry…have we got any Cheetos?"

Daryl chuckled. "Fresh out of Cheetos, Greene."

"Let's go to the store they'll have some." I started pulling myself off the couch and Daryl grabbed me by the sweater and dragged me back down.

"Already cleaned out the store, and no Cheetos."

I wriggled out of Daryl's grip, pulled myself off the sofa and walked over to the map on the principal's desk, and looked it over.

"How about we go here? They might have Cheetos." I said, pointing to the nearest town.

Daryl sighed and shook his head condescendingly.

"I will find you some motherfuckin' cheese balls tomorrow. We're not goin' nowhere now."

I stomped my heavy legs back over to the sofa s and started tugging at Daryl's arm trying to get him up.

"But I really, really want some now…" I whined. "C'mon we won't be gone long the kids will be alright." His large heavy body was not budging from that sofa.

"Greene, We are_ not_ getting Cheetos." He said it firmly but with a gentle smile on his lips. "Why can't we just sit 'ere and chill?" He patted on the sofa across from him, indicating where he wanted me to sit. I turned and walked towards the door.

"Where you goin'?" He asked with an impatient sigh.

"I'mma go to the art room and paint me some Cheetos."

"You're gonna…_eat_…paper Cheetos?" Daryl started laughing at me again. What did he think I was, insane?

"No I just want to look at them. I forgot what they looked like."

Daryl crawled off the sofa and walked over to me, shaking his head and chuckling.

"What the hell was in that whisky? And why can't you just stay put?" He grabbed my wrist and started dragging me back to our bed.

He left me by the sofas and then rummaged around in his bag and threw me a brown coloured plastic jar.

"Have some peanut butter, might take the edge off the Cheeto cravin'."

The peanut butter looked delicious in its untouched jar, gleaming in the warm lamp light, so I jumped on to the sofa, sat cross legged and opened the jar and started scooping the peanut butter into my mouth using my fingers.

"Mmmm this PB is so sticky and crunchy" I mumbled, while I flicked my tongue around in my mouth, enjoying the flavour and texture. "It's all stuck to my mouth" I scooped my tongue against the roof of my mouth and then I licked what was left on my fingers, and Daryl watched me with his blue eyes suddenly serious and focused.

"It's the most delicious PB I've ever had." I added, while I stared into his face mesmerized by his beauty.

"Lemme have some of that PB." He said, grabbing at my hand. I scooped up another lot with two fingers and then put them into his waiting open mouth, and he pressed his lips around my fingers and wrapped his warm, moist tongue around them, suckling every last bit of peanut butter off.

He pulled my hand back and my fingers left his mouth with a wet pop.

"You got some on your…" He put his thumb to the corner of my mouth and started rubbing gently across, pulling my lip out as he moved.

I put my hand to his to still it. "Your hands… They're so rough…and warm." I gently turned his palm and kissed the tips of his fingers.

I ran my eyes over his dark hair falling around his face, over his cool blue eyes that acted as windows to his guarded soul, to the fine lines that creased the skin by his eyes, then over his defined cheek bones, to the mole above the corner of his mouth, and to the greying hair that grew above his lip and over his chin.

"I want to kiss you." I breathed. My body suddenly overwhelmed with quivering and pulsating desire.

"I ain't gonna stop you."

I leant forward and pushed my lips cautiously in to his, as if I had never kissed him before. I drew away and licked off some of the peanut butter residue, which had come from both his mouth and mine.

"Your lips are so cushy, they feel like…pillows of air." I kissed him again, this time lingering a little longer. "I feel like I could be suffocated in them." I mumbled.

He gave a soft chuckle, into my mouth and I kissed him again, letting my tongue edge carefully into his mouth, absorbing the sensation the warmth and wetness of his lips and how they fitted so perfectly against mine. I put my hands to his bare shoulders and started rubbing my hands down each of his arms.

"…and your muscles are so hard… I can feel them under your skin…. I can feel every fibre rollin' under my hands." I murmured against his lips.

I trailed my fingers down to his hands and then tucked them under his palms so I could interlock my fingers with his.

I pulled away from his face, and looked into his eyes. "What does it feel like to have sex when you're on drugs?"

Daryl took a shallow breath and his fingers twitched in mine.

"It depends on the drug. Some put you right on edge… feelin' like the smallest touch will push you over, and you'll jus' land in a pool of…ecstasy."

My body trembled as I thought of how that must feel.

"Some you barely have the energy to fuck…but if you manage to do it, It's pretty intense."

I chewed on my lip anxiously. My blood was coursing hotly through my veins. My heart was thumping in my chest. My quivering sensitive parts were screaming to be touched.

"I think…I want to feel that." I released my hands from his and wrapped my arms around his shoulders while I pulled him, by the back of the head, in to kiss me. He put his hands to my shoulder and stilled me with my face just in font of his, our noses touching, our eyes staring. He swallowed deeply.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" He breathed.

"Yesss." I hissed eagerly before forcing my mouth over his, and drawing him in to my body.

His hands moved from my shoulders, under my arms and to my back, and he kneaded them against my back as he made his was down towards my backside. He flipped them under the hem of my sweater, and ran them over my soft tingling skin. His hands felt hot and hard as they pushed against me, tugging me into his strong, secure and warm embrace.

His tongue, still sweet with the taste of peanut butter, rolled through my mouth, exploring every corner, as my tongue danced in his. His rough lips closed around mine, and he drew them into his mouth. Sucking, and licking, and nipping at them with his teeth.

His hands dragged up my back, pulling along my sweater, and he slipped it over my head and then tossed it to the floor.

His mouth went back to mine, as his burning fingers made their way to my nipples and squeezed them, twisted them and tweaked them, while massaging the flesh on my breasts, with the heal of his hand. I let out a loud moan into his mouth as the nerves between my legs, shuddered and twitched and sang.

"I need you now!" I called urgently, overwhelmed with desire.

He pulled away from me and tugged off his pants in a single lightning fast movement and threw them to the floor. Then he pushed me down on to the sofa by my shoulders, and began pressing wet kisses against the skin on my chest. His mouth moved to my nipple and he swirled his tongue over it, causing me to throw my head back and moan, as I was overwhelmed with an intense whole body shuddering.

"No…do it now." I groaned, not wanting to play around anymore.

His eyes flicked up at me and he gave me smirk that sent a jolt through my entire body, and I thought I would lose myself and explode right there and then just by him looking at me. He grabbed at the band of my panties on my hips with both hands and tugged them down, sliding the sodden fabric over my thighs.

Then he positioned himself above me and held his erection mere inches away, while my warm, wet and trembling opening was begging for him to enter.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked while taking deep anticipatory breathes.

"Yes." I cried as I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him into me firmly.

We both groaned in ecstasy as out parts finally met. He forced his way through my aroused, tight muscles, which felt like they had never been stretched before. He cussed under his breath, while I threw my head back, squeezed my eyes shut, and continued to moan as wave upon wave of heat took over my body.

He started moving himself within me slowly and deliberately. He would push himself all the way until his pubic area ground against my sweet spot, and he was touching my innermost depths, and then he would draw out of me, until my channel was lamenting over its loss.

He continued this over and over, while I writhed and moaned and begged him to give it to me harder. He drew me tight into his chest, while he ran his hands over my back and sides, pressing and tugging and pulling at my skin. He kissed me along my neck and throat and then moved to my ear and chewed delicately on my lobe.

"I love you, girl." He whispered into my ear, and I felt another orgasm take hold of my body as a wave of ecstatic emotions flooded through my body.

"I love you too." I breathed, once I had regained control of my voice.

Grasping my backside firmly with one hand, he held me firmly against his hips and then began plunging into me, pounding against my throbbing pearl, and causing me to convulse and clamp around the length of him. I squeezed my trembling thighs against his backside, and rolled and gyrated my hips to meet with his thrusts, until my pelvis ached and my wet areas where nothing but a quivering mess of exhausted nerves.

He gave me one forceful thrust, while pulling my hips towards him, and I could feel him pulsating deep inside of me, while he let out a long groan. I could feel every inch of him convulsing within me, every vein and curve and bend and bulge, and I could feel the warm liquid spurting, warming me from the inside out. His trembling body collapsed on top of me, and I pulled down on his back, pushing our bodies together so they felt as one. I listened to the echoing sound of our breaths, and felt the thumping of our hearts as they synchronised, and slowed.

I danced my fingers over his sweat covered backside, and then on to his back and over his shoulders, twirling tiny circles on his flaming skin. Until the sound of his breathing was so slow and deep and regular I knew he has fallen asleep on top of me.

"Daryl?" I whispered.

He twitched a little and groaned.

"Beth?" He mumbled.

"We forgot to use a condom." I whispered.

Daryl caught his breathe, then pulled himself carefully away from and out of me, examining the extra wetness on my thighs as he exited.

He rubbed his eyes and covered his face with both hands.

"Fuck." He groaned into his palms.

"It's okay." I said as I tugged his hands away from his face. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter." He said firmly, while holding my gaze. "Got too many kids as it is." He chuckled nervously.

I shook my head.

"No. What matters is…I feel better."

He managed a weak smile, and then tugged at the sheet that was under his knees and held it towards me.

"Just stand up and jump 'round a lil'." He suggested with a sly grin.

I took the sheet and dragged it off the sofa with me as I climbed off. I held the sheet between my legs and jumped as instructed allowing some of the fluid to leave me. I wiped along my thighs trying to clean up as much as possible and then looked up at Daryl who had his face pushed against the arm of the sofa, watching me with heavy eyes.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

"Yeah a lil'." He mumbled.

I strolled over and kissed him on the top of his head.

"You get back to sleep. I feel like writin'."

He didn't even reply. When I stepped away from him, his eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily, lost in sleep already. I took up my journal and began scribbling some of the words that were going through my head, feeling a sudden rush of creative energy.

When I had finished, I began humming the tune to the song while I thought the words over in my head. Then I took up my guitar and shook Daryl awake.

He groaned and then squinted up at me.

"I think I've finished my song now…"

He crossed his arms in front of him and rested his chin on his wrists.

"Let's hear it."

I perched my naked behind down on the sofa arm beside him and began strumming out my tune.

_I'm a little bit drunk  
You're a little bit stoned  
I'm a little bit restless  
We're both…alone tonight, to-nigh-igh-ight_

_A stumble in the dark, a whisper in my…ear  
I'm biting on my nails  
and waiting for you to get here, tonight, to-nigh-igh-ight_

_Forget the _pastwe've_ had, forget the pain we've lived  
Oh you and I are experts at pretending to be kids  
Wash off all your grass stains, I'll pull off my shoes  
Let's love like we are kids …all shiny and new_

_Babies have wrinkles and scars and tear stains  
They're not afraid to cry when they're in pain  
Babies and us _could be_ the same_

I'll tell you all my_ troubles  
Just clear out _my_ head  
And lets play hide and seek _upon the_ bed_

_Forget the day we've had, forget the pain we've lived_  
_Oh… you and I are experts at pretending to be kids_  
_Wash off all your grass stains, I'll pull off my shoes_  
_Let's love like we are kids…all shiny and new_

_Chutes and ladders, game of chess_  
_Connect the dots upon my neck_  
_Climb the stairs, and take a chance_  
_Pretend we're at some high school dance_  
_The night will last and last and last_

_And kiss me _though I'm_ not sure  
leave my questions, _it's like…  
_ I've never done …this… before_

_Forget the past we've had, forget the pain we've lived_  
_Oh you and I are experts at pretending to be kids_  
_Wash off all your grass stains, I'll pull off my shoes_  
_Let's love like we are kids… all shiny and new_

I turned to my side and peeped over my guitar to see that he was now staring at me with eyes wide and alert.

"What do you think?"

"I'm thinkin'…"He took the guitar from my hands and placed it on the ground by my feet. "…That the night will last…and last…and last."

* * *

**AN: So there you go. Beth has overcome her fear and we can get back to the raunchy sex scenes. I enjoyed writing this chapter. It was a lovely, heart warming, funny chapter, before I drag them through hell in the next one :)**

**I haven't been stoned since I was like 16, so I hope I portayed it well enough.**

**Please let me know what you like and what you don't. I have noticed readers dropping off, so if you don't like something ****_tell me_****, and maybe...just maybe...I can fix it up.**


	30. Nobody's Bitch

**AN: This chapter is dark. Not as dark as the end of Part II, but pretty close. *Trigger Warning* for sexual assault, but trust in the bad-assery of Daryl and Austin.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth- Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter VI**

**Nobody's Bitch**

I fucking loved eating Beth's peach. She tasted fucking fantastic. The moans and sighs and small sounds she made sent my head spinning. The way she moved her hips and tugged at my hair drove me wild. I could do it for hours on end, if my tongue didn't start to ache, and if I didn't need to have a piss.

I wiped my hand through the hair on my chin that was heavy with slick, sweet smelling, and sweet tasting moisture and I licked what was left off my lips savouring the lingering flavour. I shifted my arms from where they were wrapped around her thighs, and pulled myself forward so I could rest my chin on her belly and look up at her tits as they rose and fell with her staggered shallow breaths.

Beth lifted her head from where it had been hanging off the sofa arm and looked down on me with her big round blues. Her cheeks were flushed and curls of her blonde hair were matted to her forehead among beads of sweet. Her tongue flicked across her fine pink lips and she swallowed gently.

"Come here." She urged with a sly grin, as she leaned forward and started tugging on my arms.

I submitted to her pulling and crawled myself forward and planted a kiss on her waiting lips. She slipped her small hand around my cock and gave it a firm squeeze.

"That actually ain't for you." I said with a chuckle.

"Huh?"

I guess she wouldn't understand the morning mechanics of a man.

"I can give it to you for a bit, but nothin's gonna happen. I really need to take a piss."

She released my cock letting it flick back against my guts.

"Never mind. The moments lost." She said with a sigh.

I chuckled and then gave her another kiss, holding her lips between mine for a few seconds, wondering if she would still be able to taste herself.

"Promise I'll get you again tonight." I said as I pulled away from her.

The woman was a slave driver; I had given it to her at least twice a night for the past few nights, trying to make up for the weeks we had lost before that. She was always begging me for more. But a man's gotta take time out to rest and replenish. Plus we were just about out of rubbers again. And I really did need to take a piss.

I crawled off the sofa and stepped into my jeans that were crumpled on the floor, and hefted them up over my hips and did the belt up. I looked back to Beth who was lying on her belly on the couch, with her legs kicked up behind her swaying gently from side to side, with her toes curling just like they had a few moments earlier. Her heart-shaped face was propped on her hands, and her blonde hair curled down over her bare shoulders, and fell to the side of her tits. She looked like a motherfucking goddess.

"Actually, I'll get you when I get back." I grinned at her, and she gave me a sheepish smile before dropping her head back down on to the arm of the sofa, and rolling on to her back.

I tore my eyes away from her and headed for the office door.

* * *

I was grinning to myself like an idiot and not paying attention to where I was walking as I stepped through the door. I stood on something warm and bumpy that gave a yelp when I put my full weight on it.

I looked down to see Austin rubbing at the fingers I had trodden on.

I quickly closed the door behind me, hoping he didn't get a glimpse of Beth sprawled over the sofa in all her naked glory.

"How long you been sittin' there for?"

Austin looked up at me with his cool blue eyes, wide open, and haunted.

"Were you..." He swallowed in an anxious kind of way. "Hurting her?"

Fuck. How much had he heard? I felt my face grow hot thinking about how I was going to explain it to the kid. I certainly couldn't have him thinking I had been hurting her in there.

"Umm…No…she's right….we were…"

Austin's expression quickly changed from distraught to amused.

"I'm just messin' with ya, I know what you were doing." He chuckled and gave his head a gentle toss, and then pulled himself to his feet, leaning on the wall for support.

"You do?"

"Yeah I lived in a room with like a hundred adults for nearly two years. You think they didn't have sex?"

I crossed my arms defensively over my chest, not sure whether to laugh with him or give him a clip behind the ear.

"Alright you little pervert; Why ya hangin' 'bout our room anyway?"

Austin bounced up and down on his toes excitedly.

"You're goin' huntin' today right?"

"…right."

"And I did really good last week, right? When we went to the school?"

"Yeah. You did good kid."

"So you think I could come with you today?"

I glanced back to the obscure glass panel in the principal's office door.

"You're gonna have to run that by Beth. She's the boss, I just work 'ere."

"C'mon, you know she'll say no. You need to make her say yes. Tell her you need me or somethin'."

I didn't need anyone to go hunting, and certainly not a little kid. But he had proven himself to be useful, and I actually didn't mind being around him at times. He was a smart ass, with a cool sense of humour. I really liked the kid.

"Alright kid, I'll talk to her." I put my hand to his shoulder and shifted him out of my path.

"Now move aside and lemme take my mornin' piss."

* * *

When I came back upstairs to pack up my gear I found Beth fully dressed and perched up on the principals desk holding my camera in her hands and eyeing it over.

"You're dressed."

She glanced up at me and then back down to the camera. "Yeah I am."

"Thought you wanted me to finish you off?"

Her lips curled into a smile, and she peered up at me slyly.

"I did. But you took too long, and I got bored."

"Bored huh?" I smirked at her and then walked around the room collecting the clothes that had been thrown about last night when Beth had been ripping them off me without a care for her usual need of cleanliness and order.

"You know I sang you my song." Beth began passing my camera from hand to hand, turning it around slowly.

"Yeah you did. It was real sweet. Real sexy. I never woulda thought a song about kids could be so sexy."

Beth blushed and drew her shoulders to her ears, looking like she was somehow embarrassed by her skills in music and being sexy.

"So…can I see your pics?"

"You ain't seen 'em yet?" I nodded to the camera in her hands, and then pulled my flannel over my head.

"No. You said you would show me when you were ready…so I waited."

I dropped my face to my buttons while I did them up, still feeling a little uncomfortable about Beth seeing them. "…I dunno."

"Don't _I dunno_, can I or can't I?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and Beth chuckled softly at me

"Do you think I'll make fun of you or somethin'?"

"…Maybe."

"Don't be silly. Let me have a look at them. Pleeeease" She batted the lashes of her big blues at me. I couldn't say no to those eyes.

"Well it's in your hands so might as well."

I heard the digital chiming of the camera turning on, and then the whirring of the lens as it adjusted. I walked up behind her to look at the pictures as she did.

The first few pics were simple ones. Most of them were of her playing with the kids, or digging in the garden. A few of her smiling and posing, some of her sleeping; She grinned up at me when she saw those. Then there were some of the kids and Mix, some of the woodland surrounding the school. Some of flowers, unkempt buildings and tree canopies.

I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me when she got to the next part.

"Oh my…gosh." She glanced up at me with her brows furrowed in what looked like disgust…or fear...or anger.

"Oh dear lord!" She cried again.

"See, that's why I didn't wanna show you." I tried to snatch the camera out of her grip, but she ducked out of my reach and stepping away from the office desk.

"No…No, I'm still looking…just most of these are of walkers and…Daryl!"

She held the screen up for me to show that she was looking at a pic I had taken of a large group of walkers I had found that were somehow walking in a perfect line. It was one of my favourites.

"Daryl, this is so dangerous, these pictures are so close!" She kept flicking through them. I knew there were more than one in there of a walkers gnashing jaws about to grind against the lens piece.

"I'm still here ain't I?"

"But why?…Why do you have so many pictures of walkers?"

"I dunno…I kind of wanted to capture the person…behind all the blood, and rot and stench. They always look kinda lost and sad. It's…"

She was staring at me, the irises of her eyes shrinking as her pupils dilated.

"Daryl…that is beautiful."

"Really? I think they're kinda gross looking."

Beth looked back to the screen.

"They are. But what you're trying to capture is beautiful. You remembered these things were people before all this." She smiled to herself, repeating a line she had said to me not all that long ago.

"Yeah I guess. It's somethin' you taught me."

"No. It's something you taught yourself. You don't need anyone for anythin'." She teased.

"Like hell I don't." I said, as I dragged her in and wrapped my arm around her tiny, soft shoulders, and reached for the camera with my free hand.

I crooked my neck and placed a warm, wet, lingering kiss on to her lips and then drew back to look into her eyes.

"You know I still need to get some photos of you." I raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"You have plenty of photos of me."

She obviously didn't get what I was suggesting.

"Nah. I mean somethin' special." I trailed my hand over her shoulder and down her chest and rested it on her tit. "Somethin' to keep me warm, when I'm out there on my own huntin'."

She giggled at me, most likely realising what I was getting at.

"I can't do that!"

I ran my fingers down her tee and tucked them into the waist of her jeans.

"C'mon, girl, no-ones gonna see 'em but me."

She pulled away from my hands and took a step back.

"One of my friends in high school, Sarah McKay, she let a boy take dirty pics of her, and they ended up all over the internet."

I couldn't help but laugh at what she was implying.

"Well there ain't no internets, so you don't needa be worryin' 'bout that do you"

She tossed her pale gold locks around her shoulders.

"I don't think I can Daryl. That's so…wanton. I'm not a wanton person."

"Like hell you ain't, girl. You ain't given me no rest since the night you turned into a stoner."

Beth flushed red before me, and I couldn't help but think of making her come again so she stayed that way.

"Well maybe I need some time to think on takin' that kinda risk again, just like with those… joints."

I kissed her smirking lips.

"Speakin' of risk, Awse really wants to come with me today."

"Huntin'?"

"Yeah…so can he?"

She chuckled. "Why're you askin' me? You're as responsible for him as I am."

"Well you're always naggin' the poor kid to do his lessons and what not."

Beth rubbed her hands along the collar of my flannel.

"I think that boy will learn more from you than he ever could from me."

She wasn't wrong there. The kid certainly wasn't an academic; he liked sun and sweat and dirt. Just like I did at his age.

"In fact." Beth pulled away from me and walked over to the oak cabinet underneath the aerial picture of the school. She picked up her Stryker that she had been leaving there.

"You should teach him how to use your crossbow."

"_Your_ crossbow." I corrected

"_Our_ crossbow." She pressed it into my arms.

"The kids not gonna be able to use the thing, you barely could, I know I like to tease ya that you aren't, but you're stronger than a twelve year old boy."

"He doesn't have to use it properly, Daryl, just let him pull the trigger, let him feel strong and special."

I didn't know from any personal experience, but I guessed it was important for twelve year old boys to feel strong and special.

* * *

I took Austin and Mix about an hour out of the town to go hunting. I had passed through the area before and it was rich with game, being so far away from the towns.

Austin's eyes had lit up when I handed the Stryker to him, even though he nearly collapsed under the weight of the thing. Mix looked up at me with eyes that asked _'what the hell are you doing?'_

"This is so cool." Austin said rubbing his hand over the limbs.

"Why don't you try drawin' it." I said with a smirk, thinking of the first time Beth tried to draw it

The kid must have been watching Beth as he knew where to put his foot and where to tug it. But just like on her first time, his little arms jiggled, as he tugged and strained, and his hands and face turned a shade of crimson.

"That's really hard! It must even be hard for Beth. How did she end up with somethin' like this?"

"Used to be mine." I took the bow of him and drew the string back into the latch and loaded a bolt for him. "I gave it to her."

I handed the bow back to him, and he looked it over again.

"Why did you give it to her? I mean, it's pretty cool. Even cooler than your bow." He pointed to the Airborne on my back.

"I don't know…I guess I wanted her to have somethin' from me. Somethin' that mattered."

"Is it really important?"

"Yeah. That thing was like my best buddy for a long time. I never let no-one touch her that I didn't care about." I looked over the boy, and gave him a smile. "And I think Beth feels the same way about it now."

Understanding my meaning Austin blushed and looked to his joggers.

"I like Beth too. She's real nice. I don't mean to be a smart ass to her all the time, that's just the way I had to be…you know, because of everything that happened."

"Yeah I know." I gave the kid a chuck on the shoulder. "Don't you worry 'bout Beth, she has plenty of experience dealin' with smart asses." I winked at the kid and he gleamed up at me.

The kid was a smart-ass, but even I cared about him. I turned away from his smile, feeling awkward about all the sentimental feelings I was having and moved behind him so I could help him to raise the Stryker and get it into position.

"Now you put your hand here." I moved his left hand to the grip. "And your other hand goes on the trigger. "He tried shifting the bow around so that he could reach the grip with the butt of the stock in his shoulder, and ended up settling with his elbow poking out in the air at an awkward angle.

"Do I look like a bad-ass?" He asked glancing up at me.

He looked like a cat playing a fiddle.

"Yeah kid, you look bad-ass."

"Can I shoot it?"

"You wanna find something to shoot at first?"

"Aww heck, no. This thing is heavy. I just wanna shoot it once, and then we can leave it. I'll just help you track or somethin'."

"You know how to track?"

His wobbling arms gave way and he dropped the bow down with a sigh.

"Yeah. My Grandpa used to take me hunting sometimes…with my dad."

My Grandpa took me out once or twice when I was a kid too. He was as much of an ass as my dad was. It was like hell sharing a tent with the pair.

I focused on a large oak tree, trying to shake the memory.

"Okay kid. Take a shot at that tree over there." I pointed at the tree.

The kid lifted the bow again with a grunt, held it in to place, squinted down the sight and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew out and hit the trunk of the tree dead centre.

"You're a natural." I said as I took the bow out of his hands. "Just gotta build up that strength and you'll be a mini…" My words trailed off as I realised what I was about to say.

"You'll be real good."

I took the Stryker back to the bike that was tucked in hidden behind a bush, and hung it over the handle bars, and then walked back through the trees to see if we could pick up on a trail.

Mix and Austin went ahead, while I kept watch from behind, keeping an eye out for any tracks they missed, or any other danger that might appear, such as animal traps.

It was Austin that spotted something first.

"Hey dad, come look at this!" He called to me with a wave of his hand.

It wasn't the first time he had called me that. Just about all the kids had been calling Beth momma lately, and most had called me dad at some time or other, but it really creeped me out when Austin did it. The kid reminded me so much of myself it was eerie, but if the kid was like me, and I was like his dad, then it made me like…_him._

"Don't be callin' me dad."

"Sorry I meant to say Daryl, my tongue slipped."

"Yeah well get that tongue some traction. I ain't nobody's daddy."

"Okay…Daryl."

"What is it?"

"Tracks. that's a deer right?"

"Sure is. Smart kid you are. Don't need no books."

He smiled up at me, and I smiled back.

* * *

We followed the tracks for a few dozen yards, before they ended abruptly on a dirt covered asphalt road. I hadn't seen the road approach from behind the thick growth of trees, and I hadn't seen the garage and gas station that was on the other side of the road either.

The gas station was ancient. The pumps looked so old, they were surely only there for a gimmicky purpose, but the garage looked fairly new. It was made from sheet metal and had a dulled-out neon sign hanging over a series of roller doors. One of the doors was rolled up about a yard off the ground.

I had stopped looking for batteries the day I got home from Austin's school, and Beth told me she wanted to stay. I could see why she wanted to. It was safe and secure and sustainable, but it was lacking something big. Our family. Looking at this garage placed so obscurely in the middle of nowhere it almost felt like fate that I would find what I needed in there.

"I'm gonna check it out." I said turning back to Austin. "You stay back behind the trees with Mix."

"Why? I wanna come."

I pointed to the partially open door that had lines smudged all around the base like a hand had recently been on it.

"Just lemme check it out first, I'll call you over if it's safe."

Austin's face was rife with disappointment, but he nodded anyway.

"Don't come unless I call." I reiterated.

Austin called Mixy with a pat against his sweat pants and went back in to the trees.

* * *

I backed onto the sheet metal with my Airborne drawn and ready, and sidled my way around to the open doorway. Crouching low I peered into the garage to see if it was empty. It looked like it was save for two car bodies, and everything else you would expect to see in a garage…including batteries. I kept myself low while I made my way toward the cars and looked around and in them to make sure no-one was lurking, then I made my way over to the low shelving unit that housed a variety of batteries. I crept along the floor examining them until I saw one that looked about the right size and shape to fit in the bus back at Austin's school. I went down to my knee and put my Airborne down on the ground beside me, while I slid out the battery and then lay my palm on it to measure it up.

My Airborne slipping out of view at my side turned me from my task. I grabbed for the arm as it scrapped across the floor and ended up with fingertips scratched on the rough-brushed concrete and a handful of cold hard nothing. I moved my hand back to my hip, flicked the snap on my sheathe, slid out my Busse, and turned to face the massive mottled green beefcake who had hold of my bow.

"What you lookin' for? Beans and bullets?"

Beefcake would have been twice the size of Abraham. He had arms the size of my legs, and a head that looked like it was built to smash boulders. Like Abraham, he had a militant look about him, exaggerated by the fact he was dressed in full military combat gear.

He casually twisted my Airborne around while eyeing the Busse in my hand. My eyes roamed the garage to see there were four others in here with us. All dressed in military combats, and all strapped up with firearms. They had snuck in without me even noticing. For that to happen they were more than likely skilled in the art of stealth and hadn't just pulled the uniform from a dead carcass.

"You out here on your own fella?" Beefcakes voice was smooth and confident.

Most kids were encouraged from a young age to trust in a uniform. My own experience had taught me not to trust anyone, especially those in authority. Even if I put my own upbringing aside, this world had changed people, and mostly for the worse.

I looked over the men, their unwashed, unshaven faces smirking like they knew something I didn't. They stood all geared up, ready for war, with a slump in their stance like they didn't give a fuck about anything. There were blood stains on the sleeves of their khaki coloured jackets, that looked like it had come from a fresh ─non-walker─ source, and they had the smell; the same smell that Joe's group had. No, these were not the type that went around protecting civilians.

There were too many to take on my own, especially when they were obviously trained killers. Maybe if I could make them believe I was like them, just like with Joe's group, they would let me keep my life.

"Yeah. Lost my crew a while back." I tried at a convincing lie, not wanting them to go searching for others and find Austin.

"Lone Ranger, hey?" Beefcake looked pleased. "You gonna kill us all with that..." He cocked his head to the side to examine my knife. "Busse…Gemini?"

He knew his combat weapons. More evidence the uniform wasn't just for show. I could take down one with my knife if I was lucky, but the two in the back already had Hand guns on me and the others were dripping with firearms, explosives and melee gear.

"Suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt others." I spoke the line I had heard straight out of a killer's mouth, and I hoped I had recited it convincingly enough.

The beefcake in front of me grinned widely under his thick moustache and the four men behind him sniggered.

"I think we got a _Hotel Alpha_ on our hands." Beefcake looked around to his men and their sniggers turned into hoarse cackles over the inside joke I didn't understand. "Look at 'im, runnin' around with his…" Beefcake held up the Airborne to examine it. "What's that Hickley? 101st Airborne? Didn't young Danny have one of them over at Foxtrot?"

The guy he called Hickley, glanced at the bow and nodded. "Yep 101st Airborne."

"Yeah Danny was a hard-ass wasn't he?"

"He _was_ a hard-ass." Replied Hickley, and all five of the men chuckled.

"Are you a hard-ass…" Beefcake waved his hand in the air like he wanted me to offer my name.

"Daryl."

"Daryl. I'm O'Reilly." He stuck his thumb into his barrel like chest. "This fella here is Hickley. This is Johnson." He thumbed to the men by his side "And in the back, Callaghan and Black."

He wanted me to know their names; did he want to give me the chance to remember them?

"You a hard-ass Daryl?" Asked Beefcake O'Reilly.

_Assimilate and survive._

"I do what needs to be done."

"I bet you do." He flashed me a twisted smile, revealing shiny white teeth. "That's the thing about this world were finding ourselves in. All these pussies come out of the works, grease a few _Zulus_, and think they're suddenly hard-asses." He looked back to his men who continued to snigger. "You know what _we_ were doin' _before_ all this shit happened? Before we got pulled back to the blocks to play guardian angel?"

I didn't answer. It seemed like a rhetorical question.

"We were chasin' down the dark and sneakies with sand in our panties chaffing our cracks and sacks. We were highly trained combat artists. We were the ones creamin' targets that actually posed a threat. You know ones that could actually think. Quick on their feet, lighting reflexes, knew how to aim and fire a weapon. We were true killers; the original hard-asses, and now everyone with a gun…or a bow, thinks they can be just as hard as us."

I looked over the men again calculating my options. If I slit the throat of beefcake here, kicked Hickley in the nuts, stabbed Johnson up through the jaw…I would probably only be shot… three times.

"I'll give you this, pal. It does take a bit of skill to carry one of them around." He gave my Airborne a shake. "Give you them strong arms hey?" Beefcake ran his eyes up my arms.

I stared at him, not knowing what answer could be the difference between life and death.

"And you're out here on your own, right?"

He was prying. No way fucker, I'm not giving anyone up.

"Said I was."

"You lonely? Lookin' for some company?"

"Guess I could do with some." I said it to suggest I was open to the idea of following them and there no-good ways, just like with Joe's group. When the words had left my mouth I hadn't fully taken in the tone of his previous question, or his little monologue about hard-asses, but now as I looked at the sickeningly sly smile growing on his thin dry lips, I knew that these guys were far more dangerous than Joe's group. And I had given them the wrong answer.

"Hear that boys? He wants some company."

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, preparing my body for action.

_Fight or flee_

I braced my boots firmly against the floor, and tightened the grip around my Busse, as the fuckers circled around me, prowling like alley-cats.

"We can give you some company for the night if you like… but you could never be one of us, and we'll sure have fun proving that to you."

"He's a pretty one with all his long hair." Crowed Johnson as he stepped to my right.

"Yeah I bet if we rolled him over we wouldn't know the difference." Called Hickley as he took position on my left

I tried backing my way to the open door, hoping I could make a run for it, dodge out the door and hide in the bushes. Maybe lead them away from Austin and come back later when it was dark.

"I think I'd rather go it alone, so thanks for the enthrallin' conversation but…"

"Hold on blue eyes, where you goin?" Callaghan blocked the path to the door. He looked over my shoulder to the others. "Don't need to roll him over when he got them pretty blue eyes. I don't mind lookin' into eyes like that while I fuck." He leered at me, and my guts twisted and turned as I saw his thoughts in his eyes.

I took a fighting stance and lifted my Busse ready to plunge it into the next person that made a move.

"Now don't do somethin' stupid, we don't want to have to kill you. We really don't." Beefcake O'Reilly gleamed his wolf-like teeth at me. "Now your ass might be sore for a while, but you'll remember. You'll remember what you were before all this started. Nothing."

_Nothing._

They were going to take away any pride and worth I had left, and leave me with nothing. Just like before I had met Beth, before I had met Rick. Just before.

I did the calculations again of how many I could take down before I was killed or worse. Maybe if I took down the biggest threat; if I could use Beefcake O'Reilly here as a shield, I might be able to get to the door and make a run for it.

Beefcake and Hickley were approaching me now as I backed my way towards Callaghan, by the door.

I swung my Busse high and arced it down and backwards towards Beefcake, and it was met by a sharp crack to my wrist as Hickley blocked it, grabbed my arm and twisted it up behind my back in a swift movement, that caused me to lose grip of my Busse. These guys weren't talking shit before. They were without a doubt military trained, and pretty darn well at that.

I lifted my boot and went to slam it down on Hickley's instep, but before I made contact, Johnson had kicked my leg out and I landed heavily on to the floor face first, knocking my temple in to the ground. Now my head was spinning, my ears were ringing and I was seeing stars. And I must have been concussed as I heard a voice that I knew couldn't possibly exist.

_"You're nobody, your nothin'."_

I lifted my eyes from the grease stained concrete floor and looked to where the voice had come from. He was sitting leaning out of the passenger side of the sedan with his mud crusted boots planted firmly on the ground. His age marked and loose skinned arm was bent at the elbow and his gnarled fingers gripped a cigarette. He drew in on the cigarette and then let the smoke seep out as he gave me a grin that made my skin crawl. Now my old man didn't usually smoke, but the man I was staring at was without a doubt him.

"Get 'im up fellas." Called Beefcake O'Reilly, breaking my trance-like state.

Hickley and Johnson heaved me up and started dragging me over to the car that my old man was sitting in.

_"Nothin'."_ He called again.

I shook my head a few times trying to regain some sense, and then struggled against the grip of the two men that had me, tugging my arms in towards my body and trying to twist my wrists free. Their grip was firm, so I tried kicking my legs out, but they dodged skilfully out of the way. I tried tossing my body around hoping to throw them of balance, but they simply heaved me, back first, on to the trunk of the car, and held me in place while Beefcake approached me.

I lifted my feet, and driving from my hips, I lunged them towards O'Reilly's face. He took a skilful step back and knocked my feet down with a swipe of his arm, before smashing his mallet fist into my eye socket, sending a searing pain up the entire left side of my face, and making my head spin all over again.

"May as well roll 'im over boys. Those blues are gonna be black anyhow."

Hickley and Johnson twisted my arms until I lifted my shoulders and then they forced me to roll over. Then O'Reilly was standing behind me with one of his mallets pressed down on the back of my scalp, gripping my hair and pushing my throbbing face down into the cold metal of the trunk.

"You see my bros, Callaghan and Black here. They've got two Berrettas aimed at your head. If you make this too hard for me, they're gonna blow your brains out from two directions…Now I don't wanna kill you. I would much rather you live knowing you were fucked by O'Reilly." I could hear the clinking of metal and imagined it was his belt, and my stomach twisted and churned.

_ "They're gonna fuck you like the bitch you are." _Called my old man.

I was powerless. Just like I was when I was a kid and he beat the shit out of me, or when the governor killed Merle, or when he killed Hershel, or when Beth was raped by Anton. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even yell or call out. If I did, I knew Mix would come running, and Austin would follow. There was no way I was having him here with these fuckers.

They didn't want to kill me, they had made that clear, they just wanted to teach me a lesson. So maybe if I just grit my teeth, I could get through it. I could endure it just for the chance to see Austin to safety, and for the chance to see Beth again, even though I could never look her in the eye.

My breakfast caught in my throat as I felt Beefcake O'Reilly's hands, reaching around my waist and tugging at my belt.

"Look he's cryin. He's cryin' for his momma." Called out Johnson from my side.

I could feel wetness pooling around my cheek. Fuck I was crying. Crying like a little bitch.

I twisted my head upwards trying to hide my face and caught sight of my old man in the passenger seat puffing out a mouthful of smoke. The back window was fully intact, but I could still hear his voice as clear as if he was talking straight into my ear.

_ "You're momma ain't here. She's dead, burnt to a crisp thanks to these smokes I got 'ere." _He looked to the cigarette in his hand. _"Your shit of a brother ain't here neither. You're all alone."_

He threw his head back and made an awful wheezing, chuckling sound as his whole body shook. Then a dirty, scar covered arm snapped out from the driver's side of the car and ripped the cigarette out of his fingers. My dad looked to the driver's seat in shock and I followed his gaze back to the face of my brother, Merle.

"_What're you a pansy now, Darlina? huh? You gonna moan for 'em and beg 'em for more? Why aren't you fightin' back?"_

"I can't." I muttered, turning my face back in to the trunk.

_"Blondie, don't love you, she's usin' you to keep her safe. Nobody loves you but old Merle and no brother of mine's bein' no god damn ass-fucked pansy."_

I felt the pressure of Beefcake's hand leave my head and I heard him hock a few times, sounding like he was dragging phlegm from the bottom of his throat and then he spat it out.

I spat out chunks of half-digested bread mixed with bile that had finally made their way from my guts to my mouth.

_"He's lubin' you up Darlina, What the hell are you gonna do now?" _I looked back to him to see his brows raise and his eyes widen, waiting for me to respond.

_ "Why don't you take a tip from officer friendly?" _Merle's lips sneered to the side and he winked his eye.

Hickley and Johnson were chuckling to themselves, they thought they had won. They thought I had given in. They were off guard and their grip had loosened slightly, if I was forceful enough I might just be able to reach him. I knew I couldn't take them all on. O'Reilly would probably crush my skull with his bare hands, but I had accepted my fate, and I was nobody's bitch.

I clenched my hands into fists and pressed them down on to the trunk. I braced all the muscles in my arms and chest and then propelled my head backwards with all the force I had in me, and hoped it hit where I wanted it to.

The crack and shout, and the throbbing in the back of my head told me I had. Johnson and Hickley were staring behind me towards where O'Reilly had been, and were too stunned to react. I lifted the arm attached to the smaller one, Johnson, and dragged him forward over the trunk and off his feet, as I ripped my arm out of the grip of Hickley and slammed my elbow down into Johnson's throat crushing his windpipe.

_"Look out baby brother."_

Hickley lunged for me, but this time I was ready, I slipped away from him and rolled back on to the trunk of the car.

"Kill the fucker!" Called O'Reilly as he held his bleeding nose. I caught a glimpse of Callaghan cocking his Beretta, which was following me as I slid along the trunk. I made to jump away, and fell to the ground tripping on my jeans that were still wrapped around my ankles. I rolled to the side hoping to avoid any bullets and heard a familiar high-pitched battlecry.

Austin flashed past me, jumped on to a nearby shelf and flung himself towards Callaghan with his little knife held high. He landed on Callaghan's back, gripping his legs around his waist, and slammed the blade down into his neck. Callaghan shook his gun arm around wildly while trying to shake Austin off and I rolled back again trying to avoid his aim. I heard a gunshot, which cracked and echoed through the garage and mingled in with an animalistic growling, yelling and cries of confusion.

_ "Get up lil bro."_ Merle jumped into view crouching over me with wild eyes.

I looked above Merle's head to see O'Reilly's large boot hurtling towards my face. I rolled to the side and was caught by Hickley who dragged me upwards. I pulled myself out of his grip, by throwing myself on to the trunk of the car and grabbed hold of the knife from Johnson's choking body. I flung the blade into Hickley's face, and dragged it back out releasing a stream of hot blood.

I turned back to Beefcake O'Reilly, to see he was struggling to tear away at Mix's jaws that were embedded in his throat.

There was one left; Black. I turned to see his forearm was covered in bits of dangling flesh and blood stained material, and figured the growling I heard earlier was Mix who had already had a go at him while my back was turned.

Black was holding his Beretta at the ready and darting the aim of his muzzle between Mix, Austin and me looking unsure of who was the biggest threat. His eyes and aim rested on me just as I flicked the knife in my grip, tugged it up to my ear and flung it in his direction. The blade made a satisfying popping sound as it went through his eye and embedded in his skull, and was followed by a gunshot as Black crumpled backwards. I turned back to Mix to see a throatless O'Reilly fall to the floor and a pool of red pump out around him.

I hiked up my jeans and fumbled at my belt, trying to get a grip on the buckle with my shaking, blood soaked hands, while I double checked to make sure my attackers were down.

Black had the knife embedded in his face. Hickley had a deep, fleshy gash between his eyes, Johnson had the crushed windpipe, O' Reilly was on the floor throatless and in a pool of red that was still pumping from his wound. Callaghan was on the ground by Austin's feet with blood gurgling out of a dozen holes in his chest, shoulders and neck.

I stumbled backwards, feeling weak and giddy, and with my head still throbbing and spinning from the last time I had been hit.

"You're hurt." Called a panting Austin, pointing his finger towards me.

I looked to the shoulder he was pointing at to see blood was seeping out from a small pit of mangled raw flesh. It was from a bullet I didn't even know I had caught. It was just a straight through graze, but it was bleeding a shit-ton and it would need to be patched up. I pressed my palm to my shoulder and groaned at the sudden recognition of pain.

I looked back towards the car to see if Merle were still there. Merle was gone, but my old man was there, leaning against the roof of the car shaking his head at me.

_"Told you, you was weak. You need a mothafuckin' kid and puppy dog to help you out. Pussy."_

_"_Why didn't you listen to me?" I growled, as I turned back to Austin.

Austin looked up at me wide-eyed and bewildered, and then looked back to the corpse at his feet. He raised his hands and examined the knife and blood that covered his arms up to his elbow.

"The blood…it's warm." He muttered.

"I told you to stay back, you lil' shit."

He flicked his eyes up at me with the shocked look still on his face.

"If I did they would have…."

"Yeah, and they mighta done it to you too."

Tears welled in Austin's eyes, and his shoulders heaved as he let out a large sob, crying like the little bitch he was.

"What the fuck're you cryin for? nothin' happened to _you_." I snapped.

"I've never killed a person before, asshole!" Austin swiped his bloody hand over his face, collected tears and snot as it went.

"You know I'm gettin' sick of your filthy fuckin' mouth, boy." I stalked towards him, shaking the finger from my free hand.

"I hear that shit outta your mouth again and you'll be pickin' your teeth off the floor." That line was right outta my old man's mouth, and I could hear him say it with me unison. I knew I shouldn't be saying that shit, but for some reason it felt natural and kind of cathartic. I glanced over to my old man and watched his body shake as he laughed at me.

I knew he was here to tell me how much of a fuck-up I had been. I had been stupid walking right into that situation. The old Daryl never would have; the old Daryl who saw the world for all the blood and piss and shit that it was. This new Daryl was a pussy. He sat around playing with kids and dogs and took dumbass pictures of flowers and sang songs with pretty girls. I had played house with Beth for too long, and it had made me soft. Soft fuckers didn't survive in this world, and I was sick of pretending to be an indoor cat anyway.

I walked back over to the trunk of the car that my old man was leaning on and rested against it while I examined the bullet wound. I took out my rag from my back pocket and flipped it over my shoulder, and winced as I bent my arm up to hold the rag in place, while I tied a knot.

_"Pussy."_ My old man sniggered.

"Pass me them smokes there." I pointed to the pack of cigarettes that were poking out of Callaghan's jacket pocket.

Without taking his angry little eyes off me, he picked up the smokes and threw them my way. I caught them with one hand. And I pulled a cigarette out, put it in my mouth, lit it with my lighter and took a few drags.

Austin looked to the dressing on my shoulder and screwed his face up. "That rag's real dirty. Is that even safe?"

"I don't care." I snapped back at him, and took in several deep drags of my smoke, until it was nothing but filter and then threw it on to the grease covered floor.

_ "You were gonna let them ass-fuck you so you could be with goldilocks and the fifteen bears." _My old man crooned_. "And if toddler Timmy 'ere didn't help you, they woulda been fuckin' your dead corpse…Pussy."_

"Get all their shit." I called to Austin as I walked over to the military duffle bag near one of the tyres of the car that was half filled with firearms and explosives. I picked it up collected my Busse and Airborne off the ground and dropped the bag in front of Austin so he could put what he had found in it.

Austin looked up at me, with a furrowed brow and a twisted mouth, while he shoved the last of the gear into the bag.

"Are you even gonna thank me?"

"Nuh." I grunted as I lifted the bag on my good shoulder and went back to the shelf to grab the battery that would deliver me from the nursery I had been living in for the past two months.

_"Pussy."_

_..._

I backed the bike into its usual spot under the glass canopy by the entry. Mix jumped off and bounded out of sight around the side of the school, like he couldn't get away from me fast enough, and I unloaded the bag of gear and supplies we had scavenged from the garage. I dumped everything down on to the ground, then turned back to Austin and took the battery out of his arms so he could get off the bike.

"Don't tell Beth what happened, okay?" I said to Austin, while I pointed a cautionary finger at his face.

"She's gonna see…" Austin started, pointing to my shoulder.

"Not about that you lil' fucker, about what _almost_ happened."

Austin screwed his face up at me, and then kicked at the dirt with his joggers, before marching up the brick paved steps and pushing through the front door to the school.

I tucked the battery under my arm, resting it against my hip, and then heaved the bag up on my shoulder and followed him in.

I didn't bother going to see Beth or the kids like I usually did when I came back from a run. I just went straight down the hall towards the showers. I could still feel Beefcake's slobber, sticking between my ass cheeks, and it had been heavy on mind on the ride home.

I dumped all the supplies down on one of the benches and tore off my bloody and filthy clothing, and went straight into the shower stall. I grabbed the sliver of sticky soap and lathered it up in my hands and rubbed it over my aching muscles, slipping off the rag on my shoulder that was sodden in blood and water. It slapped on to the ground, and I watched Red spiral out of it and down the drain.

I stood in the searing hot shower, staring at the tiles in front of my face, while I scrubbed against my skin, and listened to my old man's voice call over and over again in my head.

_Pussy. You're weak, You're nothin'._

When my skin was stinging and red raw, I shut the shower off, wrapped a towel around my hips and walked over to one of the mirrors next to the shower stalls, scooping up my Busse from on top of my pile of clothes on the way. I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my shaggy hair that had gotten completely out of control over the past year or so. It really did make me look like a bitch.

I grabbed a handful of hair and hacked away at it with my Busse, letting the strands slip through my fingers and land in the pools of water at my feet. I looked back up to see a wide eyed, open mouthed Beth appear in the mirror behind me.

"What the hell happened to you!" She cried, stepping forward to examine my bruised and swollen face and the seeping wound on my shoulder.

"Nothin'." I shrugged away from her touch.

"Nothin'? Austin's out there all covered in blood too."

"Ran into some trouble."

"Good lord!" She turned away from me and began sifting through the lockers, and pulled out a clean looking white tee and a roll of adhesive tape. She came back and prodded her cool fingers against my tender shoulder.

"This'll need stitches."

She tore at the shirt with her teeth, and put the rags to my shoulder, delicately folding them and pressing them down on the inflamed fresh. Her hands were gentle, soft and nurturing, just like her. She wouldn't have survived this far if it weren't for me. Of course she was using me. I continued to saw at my hair as I thought of ways I could use her back.

"What the hell are you doin' to your hair?" She chuckled at me and then made to grab at my Busse. I shook her hand away and continued hacking, watching her pout at me in the mirrors reflection.

When a cut in my hair revealed the gash on my temple, she tutted and then ripped off a small section of the tee and dabbed it on my wound, while I moved around her hands with my blade.

When I was happy with the length of my hair, I tossed my Busse into the basin and glared into the mirror. The reflection showed my beaten, bloody and bruised self and the image of untouched perfection behind me. She grabbed me by my good shoulder and turned me to face her.

"Daryl, are you okay?" Her eyes were big pools of worry and concern. She probably wanted me to reassure her and make her feel better. But I didn't feel like comforting her. I felt like comforting myself.

I grabbed her by the back of her head, tangling my hand into her blonde locks, and pulled her towards me, forcing my lips hard up against hers. Our teeth knocked together and she let out a cry of pain, but I covered her wailing mouth with my own, and forced my tongue into her mouth stopping her from making any more sound.

Beth moved her hands up from my shoulders, to my neck and then ran her fingers through my freshly cut hair. She responded to my forceful kissing, trying to fight my tongue with her own, while my hands went to her waist and tore at her belt.

She pulled away from my mouth, with an amused curl to her lips. "Daryl what's got into you?" She glanced down to where my hands were unbuttoning the fly on her jeans.

"Nothin'." I grunted as I tugged her jeans and panties down to her boots. I put my hands behind her knees and pulled them forward so her legs collapsed and she fell down onto the tiles with a thud and a wet slap.

She let out a surprised cry, and then wriggled her torso forward pushing her arms into the puddles of bloody, hair filled water.

"The floor's all wet." She held up a hand, matted with hair.

"I don't care." I muttered.

I ripped away my towel and climbed between her legs, kneeling on the bundled up jeans around her boots to keep them out of the way. I pushed her back forcefully onto the tiles with one hand, while I moved her thigh to the side with the other.

"The kids will hear us." She looked up at me with her oblivious, innocent blue eyes, glowing brightly amongst her flushed pink skin.

"I don't care."

I slammed myself into her driving through her delicate lips and into her hot, tight and unprepared pussy. She let out a shocked yelp, arched her back, and dug her nails into my undamaged shoulder. I pulled her ass towards me while grinding my hips against her thighs, and pushing my cock in as far as it could reach. I allowed myself to be consumed by the feel of her protesting muscles, and the sound of her moans that were a mixture of pleasure and pain.

"Condom." She gasped.

"I don't care."

I thrust into her again and again, knocking her head back on to the tiled floor. I pinned her down with my heavy aching body, and buried my face into the pale gold hair that looped and curled across the wet floor.

She giggled.

She mother fucking giggled.

If only she knew the shit that was going through my head.

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**AN: Put your hand up if you made it through to the end. Yep, Daryl is going somewhere really dark. But Beth is his light so he'll pull through. Discuss your feelings, good and bad.**


	31. Crime & Punishment

**AN:Thank you guys for all the positive feedback after chapter 30 (III:VI) I was really anxious about it as I thought most would run screaming and send me hate mail and death threats, but everyone has been really great. I just hope that this chapter doesn't bring on the hate mail instead...**

**This chapter is lemony. It's lemon pie, followed by freshly squeezed lemonade, with a lime twist at the end ;****)**** Hope you enjoy…**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where We Belong - Chapter VII**

**Crime & Punishment**

The shade popped off the stand of the lamp, and almost fell out of my grip. I placed it down on the oak table amongst the mess of papers and writing utensils, and then pulled the base of the lamp closer to where Daryl was seated. Although I had insisted on stitching Daryl up as soon as we got out of the bathroom, Daryl had taken off with his freshly acquired bag of guns so that he could distribute them throughout the school.

He had stashed several weapons in different rooms on both floors of the school, and a single rifle in the plant room on the third floor. He said he wanted to be prepared, but for what exactly, I wasn't sure. I pointed out the danger in having weapons all over the school with the kids around, and he insisted that instead of teaching them how to read, we taught them how to remove a safety and pull a trigger.

It took him what was left of the day to prepare the school for this phantom siege, and when he went down to get some cold soup for dinner; I was already busy getting the kids ready for bed. By the time he made it back to our room, it was well past dusk, and the office was dark. We didn't use the ceiling lights as they drained too much from the solar, and there was no fuel for the generator, so the lamp was our only choice.

The medical kits that had been left in the gym from when it was used as an evacuation centre were all lacking in suture kits. I had to use some nylon thread and a curved needle from the home studies room to sew Daryl up. It had also been lacking in aspirin, or any form of pain killer, and I wished I hadn't drank all of that whiskey, so that he could at least block out some of the pain.

He didn't squirm when I doused him with antiseptic lotion, he didn't flinch when I stuck the needle into his flesh, and he didn't wince when I tugged the thread through and closed his skin together. He just stared blankly into nothingness.

I didn't need a degree in psychology to know that something was bothering him. He had been quiet and brooding ever since he returned from the hunting trip with Austin and the silence was becoming unnerving.

When I had finished with the stitches, two on his temple and five on his shoulder, I opened a pack of gauze and smoothed it over his wounds with some adhesive tape to hold in place. I took his grey haired chin between my thumb and forefinger and turned his face up to me, so I could look into his swollen eyes.

After holding his gaze for a few moments, examining the flecks of grey that mingled with the blue, he shook out of my grip and looked back to the spot he had been staring at for the past hour.

"What happened to you guys today?"

"I told ya; ran into some trouble."

"I don't think that's gonna cut it Daryl. You go out to _hunt_, and you come back all beaten and bloody with a darn bullet hole in you and a bag full of guns. I think that needs some kinda explanation."

His eyes flicked briefly to mine, then back to nothingness.

"Didn't Austin explain it to you?"

"No. He just said some guys tried to hurt you, and you killed them all and took their stuff."

"Well, that's what happened."

I bent down so I could look into his eyes, putting my hands to my knees for support.

"How many were there? Where did you find them? Why did they have so many guns...and why're you actin' so weird?"

His cool blue eyes narrowed and he slowly turned them up to look at me. The look was angry, and almost threatening, but it hid a sadness that tore through my heart.

"There were five. I found them in a garage. They were military."

I waited for him to answer the last question.

Daryl glared at me, then gave a frustrated sigh and pushed himself out of the chair, standing to lean on the desk.

"And I'm fuckin' sore. Been stuck up in 'ere with you and a bunch of kids not doin' nothin' but play motherfuckin' hopscotch, hula hoops and handball… Then all a sudden gotta fight for my life… I've been too fuckin' soft."

I couldn't remember him ever being shot before, other than with his own arrow, and it very well could have killed him if it had have been a foot over. I guessed the near death experience had really shaken him up.

I leaned towards him, resting my hands on the desk on either side of his hips, and looked up into his downcast eyes.

"Is there somethin' I can do to make you feel better?"

All I could think of was the rough love making we had on the bathroom floor earlier that day. He had been so desperate and needy, and I had given into him, feeling a slight thrill at how rough he was being. I figured that was a thing guys did; had sex to make themselves feel better.

I waited for him to reply, while I gave him an inviting smile, and twitched my body from side to side, twirling my hips against his thighs.

His eyes were fixed to the floor at my side.

I let out a sigh and then put my hands to the hem of my tee and tugged it over my head and let it drop to the floor, and then I reached over him to the camera that was perched on the edge of the desk.

"Do you wanna take my picture?" I asked in a smooth satin voice, as I dangled the camera in front of my breasts.

He snatched the camera out of my hand and hurled it across the room. It hit the far wall with a crack and fell to the ground in two pieces, the lens piece snapped clean off.

"I don't wanna take no damn pictures of nothin'." He snarled at me, before pushing past me and moving towards the sofas.

"Daryl?" I called after him, confused at his destructive outburst. "Why'd you break that? You can't just go 'round breakin' things when your mad."

He tossed himself down on the sofa, fully clothed in his blood stained flannel, leather vest, jeans and boots, and he put his hands to his face as if shielding his eyes from the light, even though the room was barely lit.

"Nothin' happened!" He half yelled. "Nothin' happened I couldn't handle, or else I wouldn't be 'ere would I?"

I was a little stunned at what he had just said, given it had no direct precursor. He must have been really terrified today. I wasn't new to Daryl's moodiness. I knew he was stubborn when it came to revealing his thoughts and feelings, but I also knew if I pried enough he would divulge them.

I made my way over to where he lay, ready to give him a serving about bottling up his emotions, but re-thought it when I saw his face pinched in discomfort, with his thumb and forefinger rubbing against the un-swollen side of his forehead.

"Do you have a headache?"

"A bit." He grunted.

"Maybe you did some damage to your head?"

"I'm just tired, Greene." He opened his eyes and looked up at me. "Can we get some sleep?"

Feeling defeated by compassion, I walked back to the desk, flicked off the lamp, and stumbled through the dark room back over to the sofa.

I wriggled out of my clothes and boots, and fumbled around for my oversized sweater I liked to sleep in. I found it on the backrest of the sofa pulled it on and climbed in beside Daryl.

I tried to console him using my most gentle and soothing voice as I wrapped my arms around him; "I know it must have been scary out there, with just you and Austin and Mixy, but you made it, you're all safe, and that's what matters."

He grunted in response.

I nestled my face into his chest, and waited for him to put his arm around me like he usually did at night─ most often after we had made love ─but I didn't think that would be happening tonight. He didn't seem interested in me at all tonight. He just left his hands by the side of his head, and tapped his boots against the sofa arm in a nervous manner.

"You'll feel better after a good night's rest." I assured him.

He grunted again.

I turned my face upwards and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"I love you." I whispered into his ear.

"Mmm." He mumbled.

* * *

My dream had been clouded and hazy. I couldn't pick the events that were unfolding or the characters that played them out, the only thing I could recognise was a voice, cold and dry and harsh.

"Shut the fuck up!" It snarled.

It made me startle from my sleep, and I snapped my eyes open to the darkened room and waited for them to adjust.

I was surrounded by cold night air, a feeling I had not experienced for months now. I always had Daryl's warm body pressed up against mine, whether it be by my side, on top, or below me. But that night, Daryl had shifted over the dip between the two sofas to settle on the other side.

I reached my hand out to search for his warmth, while I turned my head towards him. He was lying on his back in the exact same position he had first lay down in. With his arms bent and above his head, and his hands resting against his face. His eyes were wide open, the whites illuminated by the moonlight, and staring up towards the darkened ceiling.

I cleared my throat trying to shake the dryness, that I could feel had settled there throughout the night.

"You say somethin'?"

He was silent, but the sudden rigidness of his body gave away that he had heard me.

"No." He grunted in a voice that was identical to the one I had heard in my dream.

I pulled myself into the uncomfortable ditch that neither of us liked to sleep in, and rested my head against his chest. Heat radiated from him, seeping through his layers of flannel and leather. It made me worry that he may have an infection from his injuries, or it could be because he slept fully clothed, which he hadn't done for many weeks now.

"Can't sleep?" I asked in a whisper.

He twitched slightly against me. After a length of silence he finally spoke again.

"I'm sorry…'bout before."

I scoffed in amusement, surprised that he would let one of his regular bad moods keep him awake.

"It's okay I'm gettin' used to your tantrums...You didn't have to break the camera though."

He twitched again, let out a deep sigh, and shifted his legs against the leather of the sofa.

"Not then…before…in the bathroom…I hurt you."

The bathroom. That had been unsuspected, but it had been exciting and new. It did hurt a little, but the pleasure was worth it.

"It's okay." I wrapped my leg around his waist, and drew his hip towards me. "It was kind of fun, just throwin' caution to the wind and doin' it right there on the floor like that. I didn't mind it."

He scoffed into the darkness. I tried to look up to his face, but in the dim light I couldn't tell if it was a scoff of amusement, disbelief, derision or disgust.

"Did it make you feel better? Havin' sex?"

His breathing hitched and I could hear words that he wanted to say cracking in his throat. He was silent for a moment before replying.

"Just go back to sleep."

* * *

I woke to pre-dawn light and a soft clicking that echoed through the room. I listened out for the sound of Daryl's breathing which was usually hot upon my neck, but this morning I couldn't hear it or feel it. I turned to my side to see the sofa beside me was empty.

Realising what the clicking sound had been, I clamoured out of bed, over to the door and flung it open to search the corridor for him. I saw his dark shadow, only just visible under the dim skylight; turn around the corner and out of sight.

Dragging the hem of my sweater down around my thighs, I padded my bare feet over the cold linoleum floor after him.

"Daryl." I whispered down the corridor not wanting to wake the children. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. The swelling over his eye had settled down to a dark purple ring, yet the skin around his stitches still looked puckered and inflamed. He was wearing his poncho and had both his bow and a rifle slung over his good shoulder, and a handgun in a holster on his hip. On his other hip was a large bag that folded as if it were mostly empty.

"You goin' somewhere?" I asked while eying him up.

He hesitated before me, dropping his eyes to his boots then looking to the pictures on the wall and then to the bag, as if he was trying to avoid my gaze.

"Yeah." He finally replied.

"Well…where?"

His eyes darted back and forth like he was thinking hard about it.

"Found a battery yesterday. Gonna try it out in the bus back at Austin's school."

"Oh…I thought we didn't need the bus anymore."

Daryl crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know what's gonna happen, Beth. What if someone comes by with a tank, decides they want what's ours and try an' blow us outta 'ere. We need an escape plan, right?"

I cringed as memory of losing the prison and daddy flooded back to me. "I guess so."

He turned to leave again, and I skipped my steps so I could catch up to him.

"Do you want me to drive you in the Honda? So you don't have to leave your bike?"

"Nah, I'm gonna walk."

I grabbed hold of his arm and turned him to face me.

"Walk? But you were real hot last night, you might have a fever. And the battery; won't it be heavy? And I can…"

"No." He interrupted. "I want to walk."

He started to move away from me again, but I gripped his arm keeping him in place.

"Daryl, you need to tell me if somethin' is upsettin' you. If you don't tell me, I can't help."

"I don't need your help." He snapped, as he shook out of my grip. "I don't need no-ones help. I don't need no-one for nothin'."

It certainly wasn't the first time he had thrown that line at me, but I didn't think I would be hearing it again from his lips.

"I know you don't _need _my help, but I _want_ to help you. You should let me."

"Jus' lemme go on my own. I need some time to think."

I wondered what it was he needed to think about.

"Okay. You keep safe."

There was a part deep inside of me that felt like I should say goodbye, but I hated goodbyes. So I just smiled weakly at him as he made his way through the corridor and down the stairs.

* * *

Austin claimed that his school was only a ten minute drive from here. So I guessed it would take about an hour to walk. Maybe an hour and a half if you were carrying weapons and a large battery. I figured it would take an hour to fit the battery in place and then ten minutes to drive home. Daryl should have been gone for no more than three hours. I expected him home in the late morning, and waited at the gate, while I practiced shooting the crossbow into the trees that lined the front path.

After an hour of waiting I went back inside to give the kids their lessons. I wasn't much in the mood for teaching, but I had to stick with routine for the sake of the kids. After our lessons we had lunch, and then I went out to wait for him again, throwing a stick idly to Mix who had decided to keep me company, while the kids tumbled through the overgrown gardens.

When he wasn't home by dinner time, I started to get very concerned, and anxiously checked the clocks in every room of the school as I walked past. I made the children take their showers and read them a rushed story before going in to the office to wait for him again. I sat in the chair and pulled it right up to the window, leaning my forearms against the cold glass, hoping to see some sign he was out there.

When I next looked at the clock on the principal's desk it was midnight. I had been tapping my foot nervously and chewing on my nails for nearly four hours.

I shouldn't have let him go out there alone. He had obviously had headaches and his temperature was up. He might have passed out somewhere. He might have crashed the bus on the way home. Some bad people might have attacked him again, and even though he was heavily armed, he was in no state to fight.

I was considering leaving the children, grabbing my Stryker and taking the Honda out to search for him, when I saw a tiny light flashing downhill in the town. I jumped to my feet and pressed my face to the glass watching to see the light get larger and split in to two. When I recognised the lights belonged to a school bus, driving down the main street, I dashed out of the office, downstairs and outside so I could open the gate for him.

Once the bus was parked up next to his bike, I waited for him to get off, getting ready to blast him for making me worry about him all day.

When he finally got out the door I reconsidered my plan of attack. He looked haggard, his eyes were puffy and his skin looked blotchy and pale.

"What happened to you?" I cried as I raced towards him and threw my arms around his waist, anger replaced with relief.

"Took longer than I thought." He pried my hands away, and then moved towards the front door of the school.

"I was so worried about you." I followed him inside and toward the stairs.

"I actually thought you might not come back at one stage." I chuckled nervously

"One day I might not."

"What do you mean?"

"One day somethin' might happen to me, and I might not come back. You gotta be prepared for that." He turned off the staircase and down the corridor towards the faculty rooms.

"That's not gonna happen." I laughed humourlessly.

"It might." He said bluntly while spinning around to face me. "Do you think you can drive that thing?" He pointed down toward the staircase. I guessed he meant the bus.

"Maybe. I drove the truck on the farm sometimes, but I won't need to because you…"

"No." He interrupted. "I gotta teach_ you_ how to drive it. I'll teach ya tomorrow." He stumbled a little, and leaned on the wall for support.

I put my hand to his forehead and felt that it was hot and clammy, and I wondered if there were any antibiotics in the medical kits.

"Daryl you look really awful, I think you should just rest tomorrow."

He shook his head and backed away from me heading towards the principal's office.

"No. I did that for too long." He grunted before pushing a hand off the wall and disappearing through the open doorway into the office.

I followed him in, closing the door behind me and watched as he threw all his gear to the ground and then dropped to the sofa, fully clothed for the second night.

I felt so bad for him. His run in yesterday had really scared him. He had gone back to the paranoid Daryl, who didn't know how to rest and relax, even when he was sick. He had no reason to worry here, no one had been past here but us.

I turned off the lamp and crawled on to the sofa curling up beside him, and wrapping my arm around his chest.

"It'll get better." I mumbled.

He groaned in response.

"I'll help make it better." I kissed him on the cheek, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"I love you." I whispered for the second time.

For the second time he mumbled his reply.

* * *

Daryl didn't look as awful the next morning. His colour had gone back to normal, and he didn't feel so hot to the touch, but I still insisted he stay at the school for the day.

I dragged him into the library with us after the chores and lessons were done, so we could lay by the windows in the sun and read books. There had been a spring downpour earlier that morning and everything was wet outside so I thought it the perfect opportunity to have some quiet indoor time.

Daryl grunted and groaned about being dragged in there, but he seemed fairly content to lie down on a bean bag and close his eyes. Of course he wasn't going to be able to sleep as the kids were never quiet. But I wanted him by my side so I could keep an eye on his condition.

The kids had decided to have a bean bag fight, and then some of the younger kids decided to make a tower from the books, and the double floor library was filled with the squeals and laughter of children. Daryl grunted, groaned and shifted in the beanbag seemingly bothered by the noise.

I encouraged the kids to pick a book and read it to themselves in an effort to keep them quiet, and I leaned up against Daryl's bean bag reading a vampire romance novel aimed at teens. It had a weak storyline, but it was a cute love story. Winnie interrupted my thoughts of impossible romances when she dropped on to my lap and pushed a book into my face.

"Read this to me, momma." She begged me with her big brown eyes

"She ain't your momma." Daryl snapped from behind us. The sound of his voice was so sudden and aggressive that tears immediately came to Winnie's eyes.

"Daryl!" I chastised, while turning an angry glare at him.

"Well you ain't." He glared back at me. "The only one who ever shoulda called you momma is Judith. Remember her? Huh? You raised her from birth and then you walked out and left her."

That was quite possibly the most hurtful thing he had ever said to me. It hit me like a knife in the guts that dragged right up through my chest, and twisted through my heart.

"I did not leave her Daryl." I tried to hold back angry tears. "They left us! Don't you ever imply that I meant to leave her, 'cause it's bullshit!" I had no regard for watching my language around the kids as I usually did. I just waved an angry finger in his face and continued to snarl at him. "I loved that little girl with all my heart."

"Yeah, well… you don't seem to be in no hurry to get back to 'er."

I sighed, impatient with his emotional attack on me.

"Daryl we've talked about that. You know why."

I flicked my eyes cautiously over to the kids who had now stopped what they were doing to watch us. I didn't want them to know that we had decided not to go to Washington in case they wouldn't take them in. I didn't want them to feel responsible for keeping us here and away from our loved ones.

Daryl must have read my body language, as he pressed his lips together in silence and glared up at the ceiling two levels above him.

I ushered Winnie off my lap so that I could turn my body in to face him.

"Daryl, you gotta talk to me. You can't just be snappin' at me all the time, that's not gonna help anythin'. Tell me what it is that's botherin' you…Did somethin' happen while you were out there that you're not tellin' me about?"

"What do you care, Goldilocks?" He snapped.

"Goldilocks?"

"Yeah. 'cause you come into a man's home and fuck with all the shit he's ever known."

He pushed his arms down into the beanbag and threw himself upwards to standing position.

I stood to face him and we both glared angrily at each other while we continued to bicker.

"Why are you bein' such an ass?"

"I'm fuckin' tired of this same old shit, I'm tired of havin' kids hangin' off me all day. Wantin' me to play dollies with 'em, and kiss their booboos. I'm tired of bein' the only fuckin' adult 'round 'ere."

"The only adult?" I growled.

"I'm just…I'm fuckin' tired." He gave his eyes a rub, and then the top of his nose a pinch. "Will you just shut the fuck up!" He yelled towards the kids.

"Daryl, they didn't say anythin'."

He looked around at the kids who had been completely silent for a few minutes now, and were watching him with shocked looks on their faces.

"My head's poundin'." He said while pressing his palms to his ears, and squeezing his face together in tension.

"I'm not convinced you're well." I forced a soft tone into my voice, while I examined his run down appearance. "Maybe just go upstairs, get some rest. I'll come check on you later."

Daryl nodded without looking at me, and made his way up the stairs and to the upper level exit of the library.

I dropped myself back down to the beanbag and thought over the argument we had just had. He had been mean, but he had also been honest. Even though I'm sure he didn't intend to, he had revealed some important clues about what had been bothering him.

He missed the others, he was overwhelmed with the task of taking care of the children, and he held me partially responsible for keeping him here.

As angry as I was at him, I could understand where he was coming from. He had gone from being a drifter who didn't have to care about anyone but himself, to a member of a council that looked after a community of mostly adults, to one of only two adults amongst a mass of children. He had stepped up to the huge responsibility, without complaint, until now. He had been so good to all of us, and I really hadn't shown him enough gratitude.

That would change as of now.

* * *

...

I had been insanely curious about the magazines I had found in the locked box several days earlier. I had flicked through them a couple of times, wondering what all the fuss was about. I don't think daddy ever would have read them, and my brother Shawn must have kept them well hidden as I never saw them, even after all the times I had snooped through his room.

The articles were all aimed at men, and mainly talked about cars, lifting weights, food, beer and sex. There was nothing much of interest in there for me, but it did give me an insight into what men wanted. The impression that I got was if I gave Daryl a good feed, and mind blowing sex, it would make him a happy man once again. So I decided that was my task for the rest of that day.

The kids were able to help me with the first stage. We slaughtered a few chickens, seeing as we had too many of them anyway, especially with all the chicks now hatching, and we prepared them and roasted them quick smart before the meat started to go rigid.

We collected fresh vegetables from the garden to roast up with the chicken, and I mixed up some stuffing using stale bread and herbs.

Marie decided to take things one step further and got some rolls of material from the home studies room, some of our emergency candles, and set about turning the cafeteria into a restaurant. She even drew up some colourful menus with the help of the other kids and set them on the tables.

I picked some our strawberries, which weren't quite ripe yet, but I would stew them in sugar which would make up for the tartness. Desert was such a rare thing around here, and it _was_ a special occasion.

When everything was ready and out in the servery, I went back upstairs to collect Daryl.

Walking down the empty dark hall, I swear I could hear a voice speaking in an angry, low tone. When I got to the door of the office, I could hear it was Daryl.

"I tried." He growled. "I can't…she won't make it…just shut the fuck up!"

I pushed the door open, expecting to see him talking to one of the kids, but I only saw him pacing back and forth around the room, looking like he hadn't slept at all.

He stopped suddenly, looking startled when he saw me standing there.

"Who were you talking too?" I asked, while my eyes darted around the room.

"I weren't talkin'." He snapped angrily.

"Yeah you were…I heard you."

"I was givin' my dick a pep talk alright?"

He was being all angry and aggressive again, so I tried to neutralise the situation with humour.

"Isn't she gonna make it?" I teased playfully.

He didn't say anything, but the angry glare fell from his face.

"I've got a surprise for you." I said sweetly as I stepped towards him, took his hands in mine and pulled him back towards the door.

* * *

I could see he was trying to fight a smile when he walked into the cafeteria. It did look amazing with all the tables covered in brightly coloured material and the children sitting so quietly and sweetly looking up at him. The smell of roast chicken and vegetables filled the room, and reminded me of home.

I sat Daryl down at a candlelit table and served him a plate piled high. He started picking at it with his hands, before a nudged the knife and fork in his direction which he reluctantly plucked up and started stabbing into his food awkwardly.

When he was done with dinner I served everyone desert. The children squealed with delight, which made me laugh, and Daryl smiled for the first time in days, which washed me with a wave of relief, taking it as a sign he was on the way to recovery.

After dinner he said he was going outside for a smoke, and I spent the time helping the kids clean up, reading them a bed time story and tucking them in to bed for the night.

When I was done I went searching for Daryl so I could get prepared for the second stage of my _'make Daryl feel better'_ plan.

I found him sitting at the front of the school watching three walkers try to force their way between the iron bars, while he casually sucked on a cigarette.

"Are you gonna finish 'em?" I asked as I approached him, keeping my eyes on the moaning dead.

He threw his cigarette on the ground, and extinguished it with his boot. By the look of the butt covered dirt by his feet, he must have sat there and smoked just about the whole packet in a space of only an hour or so. There were at least a dozen butts there that I'm sure had not been there earlier.

He kicked his pile of butts to the side, then got up walked casually over to the walkers, pulled out his knife and stabbed them one after the other in the head.

"Guess so." He said when they were down and silent.

I stepped to him and took hold of his filthy flannel shirt.

"I've got more dessert for you." I said with a warm smile.

"I'm pretty full." He kept his eyes on his shoes and avoided my attempted sensual gaze.

I put my finger to his chin and lifted his face up.

"This is a very special adult's only dessert."

His cheeks grew red as recognition grew in his eyes.

"Is that right?" He said with a sly grin.

"Yes. So why don't you take a little longer on your perimeter check tonight, so I can prepare."

"What you need to prepare? All you gotta do is take your clothes off."

I grinned at him, pleased that he was oblivious to my surprise.

"You'll see. Just give me about an hour." I winked at him and then examined his filthy clothes and skin. "You better take a shower when you're done too." I turned around and walked away swaying my hips. I glanced back at him when I reached the door, to see he was watching me with a big dopey looking grin on his face.

* * *

If any of the girls in that magazine were dressed, they were dressed in a costume. There was a nurse, a maid, a policewoman, and there was even one woman dressed up like a cat. I didn't have any of those particular costumes here, but there were plenty of cheerleader uniforms in the lockers in the change rooms. I was sure that guys were in to cheerleaders, I think that was why just about every girl at my school wanted to be one. I never did, as their schedule clashed with band practice, but I could be one for a night, if it would make Daryl happy.

I took time to shower, making sure every inch of my body was clean, and then went to the mirrors to make my face up with what I had found in the students lockers. Most of it was dried out, and I had nearly forgotten how to apply it, as I hadn't used any for near on two years, but the finished product was smokey and sultry and sexy, and that was the look I was going for. I let my hair dry naturally, tumbled over my shoulders, knowing it would curl and add to the sultry look. I slipped into the orange skirt that only just covered my backside, and a white and orange tank with '_Green Mount Cats'_ on the front and an image of a panther on the back with '_Parans futura'_ written underneath. I checked out my reflection in the mirror. It was the first time in my life I had ever felt sexy, and I was sure Daryl was going to love it. I wrapped a towel around my shoulders and then stealthily made my way through the corridors and back up stairs.

Once inside I positioned myself on the desk with my legs crossed and feet dangling in the air, and my chest pressed forward to exaggerate what little I had in the chest department, and I waited for him to come through the door. After waiting anxiously for around twenty minutes, with my dangling feet becoming numb, the door handle slid down, and the door was slowly pushed open. Daryl stepped through the door opening, dressed only in his jeans, carrying his clothes and boots under his arm, with his short hair dripping water over his broad shoulders.

He took one look at me, dropped everything in his arms to the floor and then backed into the door to shut it behind him.

"What the fuck are you wearin'?" He asked me with unexpected vehemence in his voce.

I pushed myself off the desk dropping to the floor lightly and I strolled over to him by the door, switching my hips as seductively as possible.

"We're gonna play a game." I grinned at him lasciviously, and ran my hand over his warm, damp chest. "I'm gonna be the naughty student who gets sent to the principal's office."

He grabbed my hand between his to still my movement and glared down at me.

"For Christ's sake Beth, you think I like bein' reminded how much older I am 'an you?" He pushed past me and stormed into the middle of the room, flicking his arms up in the air angrily. "You think I like fuckin' with little high school girls or somethin'. That what you think I am? Some kinda pervert?"

I stepped forward and grabbed hold of his flailing arms to still them.

"Did you think that maybe_ I'm_ the one who likes…_fucking_...with an older man?"

He stilled in my grip, and his eyes ran over my body from toe to head, taking in my new appearance. I could tell every muscle in his face was fighting that smirk, but when it appeared it was glorious.

"C'mon. It's just for fun. I promise you'll like it."

"You do look kinda cute." The smirk finally exploded into a smile, and his face flushed pink.

"Now Principal Dixon, you have to sit in your chair." I tugged him by his wrist over to the principal's desk and gently pushed him so he fell back into the chair.

I tossed my head to the side innocently and circled my finger across the desk, while I twirled my bare foot into the floor.

"I've been a bad, _bad_ girl Principal Dixon and I need to be punished."

Daryl leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on the arm rests, and began rubbing a hand through his beard, twisting the ends in his fingers, looking like a cop who was about to hear a much anticipated confession.

"You have?"

"Yesss" I hissed, as I put my hands behind my back and swung my shoulders slowly from side to side trying to look innocent and sinful at the same time.

His hand left his beard and he began rubbing his fingers together by his face.

He flicked a finger towards me; "What did you do Miss Greene?"

"Well Principal Dixon." I walked my fingers across his arm that lay on the armrest of the chair, and circled my fingers across the back of his hand. "I started something and I didn't finish it. And it's very_ very_ naughty to start things and not finish them."

"It is. What did you start and not finish?"

I dropped down to my knees in between his legs, and plucked at his belt, loosening it from the buckle. I turned my eyes up to him and watched his face as I pulled it from the loops and then started unbuttoning his pants. He was watching me with a look of shock and awe and stunned anticipation in his eyes, and he held my gaze as he lifted his hips so I could tug his jeans down to his ankles.

I reached my hand around the base of his half erect shaft and ran it gently along him, pulling along the soft skin and lengthening it out. He let out a gentle moan and his apple bobbed as he swallowed. Still keeping my eyes on him I brushed the base of my lower lip over his end, until it had slipped under the bottom of it, and then I rubbed his end gently along the inside of my lip.

"This." I hissed, before flicking my tongue out so it just brushed his skin, curious of his reaction.

He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped down on the arms of the chair.

"Yes you did Miss Greene, and that was very _very _bad." His voice was strained and barely above a whisper.

I took my tongue to the base of his shaft where my hand was firmly placed, and ran it upwards along the underside of him, feeling the skin shift under the pressure of my tongue. He seemed to grow longer and thicker in my hand as I moved along. Once I had reached the end I rolled my tongue under and over the ridges, licking upwards like I was trying to stop the drips from a melting ice-cream.

Keeping my eyes on him to watch his reaction I flicked my tongue daintily through the groove in the middle, just as had been suggested in the magazine. He jumped and tensed when I did it.

"Don't you like it?" I asked, keeping his end on my lips.

"No, I fuckin' love it. Keep goin'."

I obeyed, taking the end of him in my mouth and repeating the action of my tongue running through his groove, while my lips pressed around the end of him. He groaned, and sighed and fought to keep his eyes on me.

I rolled my tongue back under the ridge of his end, and then dragged my tongue and lips back to the tip of him together in one fluid motion, as if I was popping a lollipop in and out of my mouth. I repeated this several times, keeping my eyes raised and observant of his reactions. I began moving my hand up and down his shaft to meet with the movements of my mouth, using the wetness that was trickling from my mouth to lubricate the action. He was at his full length and thickness now, and there was barely room for him in my mouth, but I still swirled my tongue around him as much as I could, while I bobbed my head up and down, trying to take in more and more of him with every downward thrust.

I had read about _'deep throat'_ in that magazine, and it seemed like an impossible thing to do, especially with someone who was so large, but I attempted to simulate it as much as possible, by pushing him in as far as I could and using my hands to cover what I couldn't with my mouth. The first time he hit the back of my throat, my reflex was to gag. So I kept still for a moment, dropping my eyes in concentration, and allowing myself to adjust to the new sensation. Once I had control I eased him further into my mouth.

"Holy fucking fuck." Daryl cried, and I looked up at him to see his eyes were closed, and his face was flushed and sweaty.

I drew him out of me again a few inches and then slowly put him back forcing him in a little further again. He groaned and put both hands to the side of my head, guiding me as I moved up and down, while he gently thrust his hips towards me. It didn't take all that many strokes, before he started twitching and wriggling and panting heavily.

He took his hands away from my head and gripped them down on the arm rest. "You better stop, Greene. You're 'bout to get a mouth load."

That was the point of the entire exercise.

Ignoring him, I gripped my hand tight around his shaft and made my movements quicker and firmer, pushing my tongue against him and sucking when I got to the end, before plunging him back into my throat. I did this only for a short time, before he let out a loud groan and I felt him quiver and convulse, inside my throat. I could feel the warmth spurting out into me, and I moved him on to my tongue so I could taste him. I looked up at him while he spat the last few times onto my waiting tongue, and I savoured the unusual and salty taste for just a second before swallowing it.

I wrapped my tongue around his end and gave it one last suck, and then wiped along my mouth with the back of my hand to clean up any mess I had made.

He continued to pant heavily while looking down on me, the slyest of grins playing on his lips.

"So, Have I redeemed myself?"

"Fuck yes."

He leaned forward and put his rough hands under my arms and stood lifting me to a standing position before him. He stooped down, pressing his shoulder into my chin and ran has hands down my skirt and over my backside and then up to my hips patting his hands around like he was looking for something that wasn't there. He pulled away from me slightly so I could see his face, and now his grin was replaced with a look of shock.

"Miss Greene. Are you wearin' panties?"

I lifted up the hem of my cheerleaders skirt to show him I wasn't.

"Oops, I must have forgotten to put them on this morning." I batted my eyes innocently up at him.

He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Well you know I'm gonna have to punish you again now?"

"You are?"

"I am. I can't have you comin' to my school not wearin' any panties."

He put both hands to my bare backside and slid them down to my thighs, and pulled forward and upwards so my legs wrapped around his hips.

"What are you gonna do to me, Mr Dixon?" I asked with a voice tight in mock concern.

"Well I'll have to examine the damage, so I can think of a suitable punishment."

He turned around and dropped me on to the desk, and then hooked the base of the chair with his foot and rolled it over so he could sit in it. He gently pushed on my chest so I leant back, and I supported myself on my arms so I could watch what he was doing. He pushed aside the folds of my skirt so they were high on my hips and then put his hands to my knees, so my thighs dropped to the side. A shudder ran through me along with a feeling of anxiety as I felt myself open up before him like a flower bud to the dawn light.

"Oh dear, Miss Greene. Lucky you're not wearin' any panties, 'cause you seem to have wet yourself."

I giggled at him, thinking of how wet I had been while I had been sucking on him. I had felt it drip and slide down my thighs, like rain against a window pane. I was amazed at how excited I had become just by giving him pleasure.

He moved his flushed, smirking face towards the centre of my thighs and I tossed my head back as his hot breath on my skin sent a pulse through all my sensitive spots. He placed soft, slow and wet kisses along my thigh and my legs started trembling in anticipation. I put my feet on to his shoulders in an effort to steady them as his kisses drew closer and closer to the sweet spot.

I let out a load groan when his lips brushed against it, and my shaking arms gave way, so I fell back on to the desk with a thud.

I heard him snigger, and then his tongue was on it, flicking against it ever so softly at first, and then moulding it and massaging with a sensually rough force.

I pulled myself back up and moved one of my hands to his hair and wished he had kept it long so I had something to hold on to.

He continued to flick and spiral his tongue around my sweet spot while I moaned and groaned and tilted my hips back and forth encouraging him to arouse me further.

He slid his tongue downwards, slipping it between my lips and then flicked it teasingly around my entry. I wrapped my fingers around his short tufts of hair and tugged against him, just wanting him to delve his tongue inside me.

He trailed his hands down my thighs while he continue to twirl his tongue around the opening, while his top lip massaged against my throbbing and tingling pearl.

His finger replaced his lip, and he began rolling over me gently in a circular motion. I groaned again, while tilting my hips forward encouraging him to press harder. His finger slipped down between my lips and straight into my quivering opening and I cried out at the sudden appeasement of my desires.

I could feel his finger inside of me, rubbing and curling and twisting, while his tongue found its way back to my sweet spot and flicked back and forth over it.

I moaned loudly now as waves of pleasure took hold of me, building in my chest and drifting downwards over my shoulders and arms, and down through my belly, and then exploding right into his mouth.

"Holy…fucking…Christ!" I squealed between waves.

"The name's Daryl." He murmured against me. The vibrations of his lips made my whole body shudder and convulse.

"Daryl!" I cried up to the ceiling.

"That's hrmmmph." I smothered his sound, as I pushed his face in between my legs encouraging him to continue.

He did as he was bidden, while I writhed and moaned, and squealed and squirmed, until I was trembling so much, I couldn't hold myself up on the table, or keep my legs on his shoulders.

My feet slid off and landed on the armrest of the chair, and my knees dropped to the side in utter exhaustion. Daryl removed his face from between my legs and looked over my sweat covered, panting body.

He wiped a hand over his chin to remove what I had left behind and then smirked at me, his eyes full of knowledge that he had complete control over me.

"Maybe…you should…cut that off too." I sighed out between pants.

He shook his head slowly.

"Nope. That's my manhood right there." He grinned at me and then stood up to show me his fully erect penis. He wrapped his hand around it and gave it a gentle shake. "That, and this of course."

"You're ready again?" I asked, forcing myself upwards to examine him.

"Uhuh." He put his hands to my backside and slid me off the table and onto his bent thighs. I wriggled my way off them and put my feet to the floor.

"Just hold on a minute." I stepped around him, pulling him with me as I went so his back was now to the desk, and I reached beside him and opened one of the drawers and shuffled though it looking for my next prop.

"Now were gonna switch, I'll be the teacher…" I slipped on the principals reading glasses, which were too big, but would still give me the look of authority. "And you be the school boy."

"I like where this is headin'." He said with a smirk.

"I bet you were real naughty when you were in school." I said in a raspy, seductive voice.

"A bit."

"Did you get punished?" I leaned forward searching the desk for my next prop.

He hesitated for a second and dropped his eyes before replying. "Yep"

"Like this?" I wrapped my hand around the ruler and snapped it across the top of his backside.

I smiled at first as I leant forward and examined the pink welt that appeared, and then my eyes rested on the dark puckered lines on his skin that criss-crossed all over his back.

How could I be so stupid! I had got so caught up in the moment, my head was in a heady daze of desire, and all I had thought about was how excited I was when he was rough with me the other day in the bathroom. I didn't stop to think that he had been punished in a similar way by his father.

As I drew my head back and my eyes fixed on his, I knew it had been a terrible thing to do.

He was glaring at me; his mouth held in a tight firm line, his brows creased in the centre. His lips quivered and then tuned into a sneer. In a flash, his rough, strong hands were around my neck. He lifted me and tossed me down onto the desk and pressed his thumbs down into my throat, blocking off my air supply. I put my hands to his thick, muscled wrists trying to tug them away. I tried to call his name, but it just came out in a choked whisper.

His voice was thick, and course and filled with hatred.

"I told you if you touched me again. I'd kill you." He snarled into my face.

I coughed and spluttered as I felt his grip getting tighter.

"I'll fuckin' kill you! I'll fuckin' kill you!"

* * *

**AN: Did I almost fool you guys into thinking I was just going to blow over the whole dark Daryl thing? **

**Phew this is intense! I need a breather. I don't even know if I can save their relationship after this….You'll have to wait at least a week to find out if I can, as hubby will be back in town, and I have to devote all my spare time to him. Sowwwyyyyy. Please stick around...if you dare ;)**


	32. The Light

**AN: So it turns out I lied. I was sick and had the day off today, and I couldn't leave Daryl and Beth in limbo, so I smashed out this chapter. A little shorter than usual but hopefully it'll have everything you need.**

**I just wanted to point out in my version of events they never burnt down the cabin (they had sex in it instead), so Daryl never got to symbolically say goodbye to the past…**

**Song: Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift, from the hunger games. Listen to it while you're reading...it'll make you cry :(  
**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**Where we Belong - Chapter VIII**

**The Light**

_It's past midnight when I trudge up the gravel driveway and on to the porch of the piece of shit shack that my old man and I call home. He's either still awake or he's passed out in front of the TV again, as I can see the blue light flickering through the half drawn curtains on the front window. I step to the door and knock the dirt out of my boots by kicking them against the door frame. I hear him cough inside and I realise he's still awake._

_Well may as well get this over with._

_I pull the screen door open and it creaks and groans and shudders in my hand. The wood is worn and the paint is peeling and half of the wire mesh has fallen to shit, I don't even know why we keep the damn useless thing on the door, except maybe so my old man knows when I'm trying to creep through the house._

_The solid wood door is a foot ajar and I push it a few inches further so I can slip past it. I have to walk past the living area to get to the back of the house, and I have to walk past him, but maybe if he is engrossed in his TV show, he won't notice._

_I see him there on the couch with his eyes glued to the TV screen. He glances up at me as I pass by, but his eyes only linger for a second before returning to their place. Internally, I give a relieved sigh thinking maybe I'll escape the backlash tonight._

_I step into the kitchen area and put my bag down on the counter then I move to the sink to get a glass and fill it with tap water. I take a few mouthfuls and then tip the rest down the sink. He would kick my ass if he caught me doing that dumb shit. I turn around to check if he is watching, and catch my breath when I see he is standing in the part of the room where the kitchen and living areas meet, eyes fixed on me._

_I freeze for a few moments wondering what move to make. There is only one way out from behind the kitchen counters, he is right near it, and there's an empty bourbon bottle within arm's reach. If he's mad enough he won't hesitate to crack that thing over my head._

_I end our stand off when I edge towards the counter and dodge my way around it and make a bee line for my bedroom. His hoarse voice stops me._

_"Daryl." He calls._

_I stop in my tracks. I could make a run for it. I could try making it to my room and slamming the door and propping a chair under the handle, but that always makes him angry, and I've lost three doors that way. I stop and turn to face him._

_His face is haggard, his lip is still swollen and his jaw is a mottled mixture of purple and green, his eyes are dark and I see something in them, something I haven't seen before. The unfamiliarity in his glare unnerves me. He looks dangerous._

_"I'm sorry son."_

_I step backwards and almost collapse as I lose all feeling in my legs. I've never heard the words from his mouth._

_"I'm sorry 'bout hittin' you the other day."_

_Other day? What about all the other shit before?_

_"I was never meant to raise no kids on my own. I don't know what I was doin'. No-one ever taught me right...certainly not your no good granddaddy…but I know I shouldna..."_

_I know what that look in his eyes is now. It's a look that I have given him for years. Its fear._

_I've scared him._

_He had wanted me to go hunting with him, but Merle was getting back from Fort Benning, and he had wanted to take me over to Jake's to catch up with some of the boys. I hadn't seen him for eighteen months while he was doing his training, and I had missed him like crazy. I told my old man I wasn't going with him and he lost his shit. I had turned to leave and he smacked me in the back of the head with the butt of his hunting rifle. I had near been knocked out, falling to my knees and gripping on to the leg of the rickety dining room chair to try to keep my balance while my head was spinning around the room._

_I had snapped then. I had propelled myself of the chair, wound up as I turned and swung my fist into his sagging, wrinkled face. I had pummelled him to the ground and then I had laid a few boots into him while he lay there unconscious in a puddle of his own piss, shit and moonshine scented vomit._

_I could have killed him then, and I think a part of me wanted to, but he was my dad, and as much as I hated the fucker, I couldn't kill my own father. So I rolled him on to his side, cleared the vomit from his mouth and got the fuck out of the house._

_Now I was back three days later, and the bitch was scared of _me.

_I took a step towards him and then another, he stepped away from me until his back hit against the wall behind him. I stopped a few feet in front of him._

_"If you ever touch me again, I'll fucking kill you."_

_He never did touch me again._

* * *

I had my mother's looks. I had her fuller cheekbones, and narrower jaw. Merle always looked more like my dad, with the broad, Cro-Magnon forehead, and the jaw that was always thick as if it were held in tension.

The person I held between my hands didn't look like Merle, or my dad. Her skin was soft and smooth like peaches and cream, her blonde hair was like pale gold spiralling down over her rounded shoulders. Her eyes were a clear blue, circled by dark lashes with black colour running down on to her flushed cheeks.

My fingers splayed and she dropped from my hands and down to the desk, coughing and spluttering and raking her fingers over the red skin on her neck.

I backed away in a dazed state of shock, tripping on the chair behind me and stumbling into the aluminium blinds that covered the window.

I looked down to my trembling hands half expecting them to be covered in blood, but they were clean. I could still feel her in my hands. Her blood pulsating, her throat gulping as it struggled to grab a breath.

The howling laughter shook me from my state and I looked across the room to see my old man leaning his back against the wall while he slapped his hand against his knee, swamp dweller style.

_"You nearly killed her. You nearly fuckin' killed her." _He cackled hoarsely between his croaking howls.

I looked back to the oak desk to see Beth, rubbing against her throat, while she gulped and coughed and gasped in air. Her eyes were fixed on me, wide open with fear.

Faster than a buck with a bee sting, I grabbed up my jeans and yanked them over my legs not bothering with the belt. I shot over to the door and tugged my boots on not bothering with the laces. I slipped on my flannel not bothering to do up the buttons. I kept my eyes to the ground the entire time, not wanting to see her, and not wanting to see him.

"_You were about to fuck her…and then you tried to kill her. That's some fucked up gold star entertainment right there."_ My old man cackled on.

I grabbed my duffle bag and shoved my poncho, the AR-15, and a Beretta inside. I scooped up my Airborne and slung it over my shoulder and turned to leave.

Rethinking it all I stopped in my tracks, dropped everything back to the ground, checked the Beretta had a round in the chamber, and then pulled on the door handle.

_Don't look back._

I couldn't help myself; I at least had to see that she was okay. I took one last glance over my shoulder to see she was standing in front of the desk, with her bare knees knocking together, her shoulders hunched over and her terrified blue eyes leaping out against her ghostly pale face. Her eyes were lined with dark shadows of wet mascara that ran down her cheeks like blood from a seeping wound.

I squeezed my eyes shut and stepped blindly through the door slamming it shut behind me. Opening my eyes I marched down the dark hall with the Beretta heavy in my hand.

_"What you gonna do with that son? You gonna blow your own brains out? That really is the pussy's way out." _

I tucked the gun into the waist of my jeans.

"I gotta leave." I snarled at him.

"Don't leave." I heard Beth's soft voice call out from behind me.

I stopped in my stride for a split second, her voice tugging at my heart like a kite on a string, I shook the feeling away and then continued on towards the main stairwell.

"Daryl, don't leave." She cried again.

I stomped down the stairs and threw my swollen, aching shoulder into the front door to swing it open, and then took a sharp left, vaulting over the low brick wall to land in the dirt beside the fat boy. I threw my leg over the seat, and went to kick out the kicker.

"Don't leave!" Beth shrieked as she tumbled over the wall after me, sending up a dirt cloud as she landed by my feet.

I wanted to help her up but all I could do was stare at her.

"You said you never would leave me." She cried as she tugged on my jeans, and pulled herself to a stand. "You promised. You promised!"

I forced myself to look into her weeping eyes.

"I nearly fuckin' killed you." My voice was surprisingly steady.

My old man jumped on the bitch seat behind me, and nudged his knees in to me, urging me on like a stallion. _"C'mon son, let's get outta here."_

"Shut the fuck up." I yelled as I jumped off the bike and took a swing at him hitting nothing but air.

"Daryl, what is going on?" Beth shrieked while throwing her arms to the side.

I put my fists to my head and squeezed against my throbbing temples.

"I'm losing my fuckin' mind!" I shrieked back. "I gotta leave before I hurt you again…or one of the kids. Fuck, if it had've been one of them instead of you…I would've snapped their little necks!"

Beth lunged towards me tryin to grip me around the shoulders, and I pushed her backwards with enough force to make her stumble.

"I wanted to leave! I wanted to leave before, but I didn't…I couldn't…and look what I did." I pointed to the red finger marks around her tiny throat.

"That wasn't you, Daryl."

"Who was it then? Santa Clause? You wanna wait 'round and see what other surprises I have for you in my sack?"

"But it wasn't _me_ who you saw was it? You need help! Let me help you!"

I shook my head from side to side rapidly. "I'm too far gone…like Carol. You said yourself; sometimes there's no comin' back."

"Carol was different. We made the mistake of leavin' her alone and she lost herself to darkness. But you don't have to be alone, Daryl. I'm here, I can shine a light for you and show you the way, but if you leave there's nothin' I can do. You'll get lost out there. Alone. In the dark."

"Carols not different, we're the same. Beth, I…" I let out a sob as I thought about what I had done to her. "Beth I hurt you just like Carol did, just like Anton."

"What do you mean?"

"The other day in the bathroom…If you told me to stop…I don't know that I would've."

She stood there without talking for a few moments, her shoulders heaving as she took in deep breaths.

"I didn't say stop, Daryl."

_"You would've raped her. She would've been screamin' and cryin and beggin' for you to stop and you would've kept goin'. 'cause you wanted to be in control, you wanted to take what you needed, you don't let anyone stand in your way…you're just like me."_

_"_Shut-up!" I shrieked falling to my knees and covering my ears with my forearms. "Shut up! shut up! shut up!"

Beth fell to the ground in front of me.

"You're hearin' things, Daryl. There's no-one there." She tried to pry my arms away from my ears, her tiny hands clinging on to the skin on my wrists.

"No." I tugged out of her grip by throwing my weight back, and fell flat on my ass. My dad's laughter continued to howl through the air.

"You hit your head." She climbed on top of me and started grabbing at my arms as I struggled to push her off. "You're not well." She cried.

_"She's the only person who ever loved you and you were gonna _rape_ her, you were gonna _kill _her."_

"No." I sobbed up towards the stars.

"Daryl, there's no-one there!"

She wrapped her arms around my head and pulled it into her chest, lifting my shoulders off the ground as she went.

"There's no-one there." She whispered into my ear, as I let out loud sobs, and flooded her vest with tears.

"There's no-one there."

I could still hear him, cackling and croaking.

I wrapped my arms around her tiny frame, and pulled myself tight in to her; Losing myself in her comforting warmth and familiar smell. I kept my face buried in her chest, not wanting to open my eyes and see my old man mocking me again for acting like a weepy bitch.

I sobbed into the letters on the front of her vest, while my hands pawed at the panther on her back. My mind pulsated and burned with confused thoughts. I wanted to leave her, I couldn't hurt her again, but I needed her. I needed her more than she needed me.

She pulled me away from her chest and looked down on me with her tearful blue eyes. "Please Daryl. Please come inside." She begged me in a soothingly soft voice.

I stared at her, not able to find the words to respond.

"I know you didn't want to hurt me, I know I'm safe with you, but only if you let me help you."

I wanted her words to be true. But as long as he was in my head, I couldn't guarantee anything.

"Please. My backside is freezin'." She said with a nervous chuckle.

I reluctantly let her pull me to my feet, battling with the part of me that said to run the other direction. She interlocked her fingers with mine and dragged me around the low wall and up the steps to the school. When we got to the door, I glanced back to the bike to see my dad sitting on it with his arms open wide, waiting for me.

_"Where're you goin' son? Thought we was goin' for a ride."_

I shook his voice from my head, and followed her back up the stairs and through the dark corridors, keeping my head down and watching my shuffling feet all the way back to the room.

She sat me down on the sofa arm and dropped to her knees to tug off my boots, removed the Berretta from my waist and placed it inside my boot, then with a gentle hand, she pushed me backwards so I was lying flat on my back staring up at the ceiling fan.

The lamp light went off, and then I felt her crawling in beside me. She pulled my head on to her chest and began running her fingers through my hair, drawing circles back and forth across my scalp.

"Have you slept at all the last few days?"

I know I didn't that first night; I lost a few moments the next night, so it was possible I slept then, but everything over the last few days had been such a blur.

"I dunno. Maybe a couple hours." I muttered.

"No wonder." She sighed into the darkness. "We're gonna talk about what's goin' on with you, but not until you've had some sleep."

I shook my head against her chest

"I can't sleep." I admitted. Every time I tried the voices would get louder, and the things they said would get darker.

"…do you want me to sing for you, help you get to sleep, like I did for Judith?"

"A lullaby?"

"No. You don't need to hear about ashes or cradles fallin' out of trees."

She cleared her throat that I had my hands wrapped around only moments ago, trying to squeeze out its last breath.

"Close your eyes." She whispered.

I obeyed.

_I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, "I'll never let you go"  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes_  
_The sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright_  
_No one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound_

* * *

It was past midday when I woke up. The room was bright, with golden yellow light, and it was quiet enough to hear the ticking of the clock, and a soft scratching sound.

I rolled over on the sofa and scanned the room looking for my old man, he had been following me around for days now, whispering shit in my ear, but I couldn't see him now.

Beth's face emerged from beside the sofa and I looked down at her hands to see the scratching sound was her scribbling in her journal. She closed it and put it to the side, grabbed a bottle of water and held it out for me.

I took it gratefully, popped the lid and took a few gulps. My mouth was a dry mixture of cotton balls and ass holes, and the cool water was refreshing.

I glanced to the clock on the wall. It was 4pm.

"Shit I been out almost twenty-four hours." I muttered while rubbing crusts from my eyes.

Beth chuckled lightly. "No, You've been out for nearly two days."

No wonder my stomach was groaning and churning on air.

"You and the kids okay?"

"Yeah we're fine. There were a few walkers at the gate after all the yellin' the other night, but we took care of them."

"Where're the kids now?"

"They're all watchin' a movie. I've been sittin' in here, waitin' for you to wake up."

"Oh." I wondered how long she had been there for, and how much of that time she had spent singing to me. It was all I could remember from my dreams.

Beth took the water bottle out of my hands, and stood it by the side of the sofa. She rested her head back on the arm of the sofa and scanned my face with her big blues.

"Do you feel like talking?"

I held her gaze, even though instinct told me to look away.

"I don't know. I don't know what to talk about. I don't even know what happened."

"I think you had a head injury Daryl; the headaches, the mood swings, the voices. You were hearing voices right?"

"…Yeah."

"Are you hearin' voices now?"

I sat quiet for a moment, listening to the sounds of the clock ticking away, and of our synchronized breathing, as it blew against the leather of the sofa.

"No. I think they're gone."

"Who was it?"

I hesitated wondering what the least crazy sounding answer would be.

"My dad."

"Why would your mind make your dad talk to you?"

"I dunno. I'm no psycho analyst."

"And it was your dad you saw…when you hurt me?"

"Mmm Hmm."

"That was my fault, I shouldn't have hit you, it was so stupid."

"No…it wasn't that...he was there before any of that."

"Did somethin' happen that day─ the day you hit your head─ that made you think of him?"

I squeezed my eyes together, trying to fight away the images that were flashing though my head. I didn't want to tell her what had happened ─or almost happened─ but I had to give her something.

"I've been fightin' for my life for years, but I always fought knowin' that I would either win or die tryin'. With those guys…with them it felt like the only way to win was to die."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I was completely out of control. I'd never felt so weak before, not since I was a kid… And then my dad was all up in my head, fuckin' with my mind. All this shit came up that I thought I had buried."

"If you wanna make sure somethin' stays gone…You don't bury it. You burn it."

I looked back to her soft angelic face.

"How exactly do I do that?"

"You talk about it…You talk about it until you understand it, and then its nothin' but smoke blowin' in the wind."

"I don't wanna talk about it. I wanna forget it."

"But you haven't forgotten have you? You bottled it all inside for years. You were waitin' to explode. That bump on your head, it spilled everythin' out, and you weren't ready for it. You gotta talk about it now, while you're in a safe place, so that doesn't happen again."

"What're you a doctor now, Greene?"

She stood up, and climbed onto the sofa beside me, sitting with her legs crossed and her hands resting on her knees, lotus style.

"You can call me Dr Greene."

"Alright Dr Greene, what do I do now?"

She slipped her hand into mine.

"Tell me…about you childhood."

"It was shit. You know that."

"Well…what did you like to do...you know, for fun?"

"Ride my bike, go fishin'…I watched cartoons sometimes."

"What did you watch?"

"Stuff on Saturday mornin's…This one time, my dad was passed out on this piece of shit sofa we had. There was nothin on the TV but some early mornin' bible show. I changed the channel to cartoons and he lost his shit at me. Jumped up, started screamin' 'bout me touchin' his shit. Ripped the cable out the back of the TV and whipped me with it like a dirty yard dog."

Beth swallowed gently.

"That where the scars come from?"

"Some of 'em."

There was a long silence and the words loomed in the air while I looked to my twitching feet, and watched from the corner of my eye as Beth pouted at me. I honestly couldn't remember where all my scars had come from. I was unconscious for half of them.

"Tell me about your momma." Beth said, breaking the silence.

"She was alright."

"Just alright?"

"She liked her wine, and she smoked like a monkey in a side show, but she tried her best. Merle used to give her a real hard time, he was always in trouble, and she was always breakin' up fights between him and my dad... She baked cookies and shit when she wasn't comin' off a bender."

"Did you like that?"

"She was an awful cook. But I liked it."

"…and then she died?"

"Yeah. And it was just me and Merle and my old man."

"Tell me about him… What did he do for work?"

"When I was a baby he worked in a slaughterhouse. Hurt his back or somethin' and got an insurance pay out…that's what we lived off. 'course there was nothin wrong with his back, he was just a lazy fucker who didn't wanna go in to work."

"Do you wanna tell me about the first time...That he hit you?"

I twitched nervously, and sighed to release some of the anxious tension.

"I don't much remember the first time…but I remember the first time he tried."

"Tell me."

"It was over somethin' stupid…I left my bike in the drive, or I forgot to take the trash out, some shit like that. He started throwin' me 'round and Merle jumped in, screamed at him '_If you touch my brother, I'll kill you!_'…So my dad near killed him, instead."

"That's…awful."

"He ended up in hospital and all, said he fell of his bike. When he got out he beat on a kid in school, hurt 'im real bad, ended up back in juvie."

Beth pressed her lips together while her eyes searched my face.

"He was in and out of Juvie all the time…I think he liked it there…it was safe… So after that it was just me and my dad."

"And things got bad then?"

Like a massacre in a nunnery.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

I pulled myself up and wrapped my hands around my knees, rubbing my fingers into the frayed denim, trying to find strength to talk about things I had never spoke to anyone about. Not ever.

"What do you wanna know, Greene?" I said, snappier than I intended.

"I dunno, I'm just tryna understand…"

"Do you wanna know how he strangled me with a tube sock? Or how 'bout the time he held my head in a bucket. You know how much it hurts to breath in water?"

She shook her head.

"You wanna know about the time he beat me so bad they had to rebuild my face?"

"Daryl." She reached forward in an effort to hug me and I shrugged her off.

"Car accident he told 'em, and they believed 'im. He fucked me up so bad that they believed I was hit by a mothafuckin' car. A car!"

Beth forcefully grabbed my head and pulled it on to her shoulder.

I was holding back tears, but I could feel them brimming to the surface, ready to explode.

"My mom left, and then Merle, and I was _alon_e…with him." I mumbled into the soft skin of her shoulder. The tears ran down the sides of my nose, and this time I didn't try to stop them.

"I don't wanna be alone." I wrapped my arms around her, and pressed my wet face into her neck, and sobbed freely into her hair; releasing years of pent up fear and tension.

"I don't wanna be alone!"

"I'm so sorry, Daryl. I feel stupid. I've been sheltered…everythin' I've been through…all the shit in this world, it's nothin' like what he did to you. For someone who is supposed to love and protect you to do that for so long, and to such extremes…it's worse than anythin' else. I didn't know how bad the world was before…but I do now...and I know what was hurting you, and we know how to stop it so it doesn't hurt you again."

She took my face between her palms and drew away from me so her eyes were only inches from mine.

"I'll never leave you Daryl Dixon, Never! Even when I die and I turn into a walker, I'll drag you down and I'll…I'll eat your heart out so it'll always be with me."

I snuffled, and wiped a fat tear from the tip of my nose.

"That's gross…and a lil' creepy."

"I know…but I mean it! I'll eat you all up like peach cobbler."

"You're not gonna eat me, 'cause I'm not gonna let anythin' happen to you. I'll die a happy man as long as I know you're safe."

"No, Daryl, _you're_ gonna be the last man standing. You know why? Cause you're a survivor. You're a tough son of a bitch who won't take no crap from nobody, not even me. You're strong and you can get through anythin'."

"And you gotta stick 'round to remind me of that."

Beth chuckled softly.

"I guess we'll have to eat each other then."

I felt a smile tug at my lips, and I let it linger for a moment, before drawing my mouth back into the firm line I had been holding for most of the past few days.

"There's somethin' else isn't there?" She peered up in to my eyes. She could read me like a book.

If the school were ever to be attacked, the place was too big and there were too many of us to manage without proper leadership. And if we had of had other adults here to come on runs, all this shit ─being outnumbered, hitting my head, going nuts and hurting Beth─ it never would have happened.

"I miss my brother."

"Merle? He made you feel safe, huh?"

I gave my head a gentle shake.

"No, not Merle..." I had to catch my breath at the memory of him and what he said to me that day by the truck. He had called me brother and made it official that I was part of his family. I needed him, not only as a leader but as a friend. "Rick."

Beth's hand left my cheek and squeezed my hand and she gave me a sympathising smile.

"We'll go to Washington."

"You want to?"

"Yeah. I miss everyone, and I know you can't do this all on your own. I know we need them."

I couldn't do it on my own. I liked the kids. I liked being here with Beth. I liked the school. But it was nothing without my family.

"What about the kids?"

"Well if when we get there they won't take them. I'll hang back and you can go find the others, see what's up. Bring them back to the school if they'll come. If they haven't found anythin' better."

I didn't like that idea; Leaving Beth alone with all the kids while I searched through Washington. If we got there and they wouldn't take in the kids, I would have to think up another plan, but I wasn't going to worry about that now. I just smiled at Beth in agreement.

"When you're feelin' better, you can teach me how to drive the bus. If we end up having to split, you'll need the bike. And It's kinda a part of you right?"

"I like it, but it's just somethin' to give me an edge."

"You deserve somethin' to give you an edge."

I smiled at her, and then wiped the last of the tears from my face with the back of my hand.

"You know I love you right?"

She moved her hand from my cheek and rubbed it over my chin. "I know."

She dipped her head forward and took my lips gently between hers, and fluttered a kiss on them.

My stomach growled interrupting our moment, and Beth giggled in reaction.

"Think you deserve somethin' to eat, too"

* * *

Beth made a chicken and vegetable soup for dinner that night. I was so hungry I ate four bowls and still could have gone for another, if the kids didn't snap it all up.

All the kids seemed to avoid me that evening, keeping their eyes down when I passed. I knew I had been awful to them the last few days, with all that was going on in my head, and I would have to make it up to them somehow. Watch the little mermaid with them or something.

There was one kid I knew I had hurt more than anyone else, and I knew I shouldn't wait to make it up to him.

When everyone went to the kitchen to clean up after dinner I pulled him aside.

"Can I talk to you?" I tugged gently on his shoulder trying to get him to follow me out of the room.

"Nah, I'm busy." He shrugged me away.

"C'mon it'll only take a second." I nodded my head to the open doorway and walked off hoping he would follow.

I walked out the door and a little way down the hall with the sound of his joggers tapping the floor behind me. I turned and stopped him with a hand to his shoulder and knelt before him like a knight would a king.

"I'm real sorry I was nasty to you." I crooked my neck and looked up into his lowered blue eyes, covered with a curtain of dark hair. "And I'm sorry I threatened to hit you. That was wrong. Real wrong. No one should ever do that to you, not me and not your daddy."

Austin's eyes rose to meet mine, and I sighed against the rush of emotions I felt seeing the hurt within them.

"I weren't feelin myself, but I'm doin' much better now, and I'm gonna do all I can to keep you and all the kids safe. I care 'bout you, you're a real cool kid."

I carefully put my hands to his shoulders and tugged against him pulling him into my chest. I wrapped my arms around his tiny frame and gave him a squeeze, and his little arms squeezed me back. There were only a handful of people I had ever hugged in my life; My mom, lil' ass kicker, Beth and now him. I pulled away from him before the sentimentality sunk in and I started crying again.

I brushed away the hair from his brow to reveal a smiling face, and I smiled back at him.

"And Awse."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for savin' my life."

His lips drew back to a tooth filled grin.

"Don't mention it, Da…Daryl."

I sighed, picking up on the mistake he had almost made again.

"I ain't your daddy."

Austin nodded his head.

"I know…You're somethin' much better."

* * *

**AN: So in-case you still need an explanation; Daryl most likely had a concussion from cracking his head on the concrete floor, made worse by being punched in the head, and he went back to his traumatic childhood as he made the link between being overpowered by O'Reilly and being overpowered by his dad**. **All of the bad shit he did was because of his dad whispering in his head. Thought disturbances are common with head injury, and apparently treated with rest...but I'm no doctor so I could just be pulling a Hollywood.**

**The main point is, we got Daryl to reveal his past that I 99% made up.**

**Hope this was satisfactory (I cried when I wrote this...did I make you cry?), and I'm gonna take that break I said I was going to have now.**

**Will be back in about a week with a couple of soppy, lemony chapters, and then back to action for the 'season finale'.**

**xxx**


	33. Making it Better

**AN: Looks like I lied again! lets just say if I disappear for a while, its because I'm spending time with hubby. This chapter is mainly focused on bringing our protagonists back 'on track'.  
**

**Song: Emily Kinney 'Doctor'**

**Yeah, there's another Emily Kinney butchery in here. I guess that's my Normily ship coming through again. It'll be the last one… unless she writes a perfect song for whatever happens between now and the end.**

* * *

**The Walking Deth - Part III**

**An Unexpected Journey - Chapter IX**

**Making it Better  
**

Daryl was sleeping soundly with his head tucked under my chin, and his damaged shoulder resting under my breast. His even breaths blew hot against my skin and the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest was almost enough to lull me back to sleep.

I dragged my fingers tentatively over his head, drawing white lines on his scalp as they parted through his hair.

This was the way we had slept the last three nights, with me humming a tune to him to help him drift off, and massaging my fingers through his hair.

The first night I had been pinned under him for nearly twelve hours, before I was able to tug myself from under his weight. He had slept through that whole day, and I had returned to my spot that night, lifting his head to my shoulder and resuming the humming to give him the deep sleep he needed.

It had been a relief when he finally woke yesterday, but the dark circles under his eyes told me he still needed rest, so we had spent the last night in the same embrace and with me humming the new tune I had developed, inspired by recent events.

When I tried to wriggle from under his weight this time, he startled awake, snapped his head up and darted his eyes over the room.

"Somethin' up." His voice was heavy with sleep, but also tense with anxiety.

I chuckled at him lightly, and stroked my hand along the back of his neck.

"Nothin's up. It's just time to get outta bed."

He groaned and stretched, arching his back and pushing his arm up to the sky.

"I better take that dog out huntin', 'fore he goes crazy as a lady in a trailer full of cats." He chuckled at his own remark. "Or a dog for that matter."

"Uh-uh. You aren't goin' nowhere mister."

"Like hell I ain't. I'm getting' mighty tired of chicken and spam."

"I'll go huntin'. Catch you some rabbit, or squirrel, maybe even a nice fat buck."

"Nah Greene, you don' think I'm gonna sit 'round 'ere while you're out there do ya?"

"You'll be fine here. Marie had to keep an eye on you while you were out the other day and I taught her all the basics if somethin' were to happen to you."

"I'm not worried 'bout bein' alone. I'm worried about _you_ bein' alone. Shit, what if you run into a group of crazies like I did the other day? If you came back at all it would be with more than a bump on the head."

He carefully prodded at the puckered skin on his temple, still held together by two small stitches.

"I won't be alone, I'll take Mix. And I won't go far. I'll stay in the woods around the school. I'll be close enough that you can hear my call if anythin' happens."

Daryl screwed his face up and gave his head a firm shake.

"That's a fucked up idea, Greene. I don't like it one bit."

"Don't get all chauvinistic now. You leave _me_ alone all the time in this school… I can hunt, you taught me well, and I want us to share the load 'round here…Let me pull my weight."

"You do pull your weight. Takin care o' all the ankle biters."

I glared at him, showing my annoyance at these hunter gatherer roles that we had come to accept as the norm. Daryl met my glare with a glare of his own, but it quickly softened when my brows creased in seriousness.

"Alright Greene." He squinted at me in a display of false annoyance. "How come you can just look at me and get your own way?"

I tossed my head about innocently. " Maybe 'cause you love me."

"That I do." His eyes stayed focused on mine for a moment, while the smile passed over his lips. Then his brow bunched together in the middle. "I would feel much better about it all if you took Awse."

I nodded my head in agreement. The kid had earned Daryl's respect, and that was all I needed to know to give him mine.

"That would be a really good idea." I pulled my arm out from under his side and made a move to roll to my front.

"And Greene." Daryl called, making me turn back to face him. "What the hell am I gonna do with a school full o' kids on my own?"

**…**

I kept my word to Daryl about not going far out. From our position up the hill, we could still make out Daryl and the kids sitting in the cafeteria courtyard.

When I had left Daryl and the kids, he had been teaching them how to remove the safety from the various types of weapons he had found, and drilling them on what to do in an emergency. It wasn't my idea of a rest of recovery, but the mere fact Daryl Dixon had given up a hunt so he could teach the children anything at all, had my stomach doing flip flops with pride.

Austin walked ahead of me, following Mix who had his nose pressed into the dirt. I held the crossbow cocked and aimed ready to fire at whatever Mix drove out.

Mix found a burrow, and stuck his snout down it, and a few moments later a grey rabbit darted out in front of us.

I pulled the trigger and the arrow went flying into the rabbit's skull.

I smiled to myself in triumph, relived that I could still hit a moving target.

Austin marched over to the bundle of fur excitedly and picked the rabbit up by its hind legs, dangling its arrow skewered head about.

"That was a real good shot, Miss Beth." He grinned back at me.

"You wanna try shootin' the next one?"

"Naw, I dunno. It's kinda hard to use…and heavy." He said pointing at the bow.

"It takes some getting' used to. Come over here and give it another try."

Austin paced back towards me and we swapped bow for rabbit, and I tugged the arrow from the rabbit's skull and looped the length of rope from my shoulder, around the rabbit's neck.

Austin dropped the bow down and braced his foot in the stirrup and began tugging at the string. He grunted and huffed and puffed and his face turned bright red. It only moved a few inches before he gave up, but I was still impressed.

I held out my hand for it and he passed it back, with a pout on his lips.

I put my foot to the stirrup and strained back on the string until it clicked into place.

"I dunno how you do that." His eyes squinted like he was figuring out a math problem.

"I had Daryl lessen the draw weight some time ago, but it's still not easy. It hurts my hands every time." I showed him the fresh welts appearing on my hands and fingers from where the string had grazed my skin. "And it takes a lot longer to load than a gun."

"Why do you use it then?"

I handed the bow back to Austin, and he looked over it like it was an exotic zoo animal.

"It's quiet, and you can re-use the arrows. And 'cause Daryl gave it to me. It's like a little piece of him, and that makes it real special."

Austin's eyes left the bow and turned back to me

"You two love each other don't you?"

"Sure do."

"I should tell you what happened that day…when Daryl hurt his head."

I was about to hand Austin the arrow from the rabbit so I could show him how to load it, but my train of thought fell quickly from hunting to what had happened to Daryl that I didn't already know about.

"Yes. Tell me."

Austin looked down to the crossbow resting on his joggers.

**"**He had his pants down…I think they mighta…raped him."

My heart suddenly turned into ice; heavy, still, and rigid. I swallowed in an effort to shift the awful feeling, but the ice only dropped downwards, causing my belly to squirm and clench. I knew what it felt like to have that done to you, to have all power taken away from you, to be made to feel like you were nothing. No wonder he had said it made him want to die.

I hoped maybe Austin had it wrong, maybe he didn't know what he was talking about. How could such a horrible word come out of a twelve year old boy's mouth? Before it wouldn't be right for someone so young to know such a word, but things weren't like before.

I managed to pull myself out of my state of shock enough to focus on Austin's pouting face and ask him; "You know what rape is?"

"Yeah…when we first got to the centre, things were bad, until the army people started comin' 'round more... Some people did that to other people… It's when you have sex with someone and they don't want to do it."

I dropped a knee before him, and placed the crossbow he was holding into the dirt. My arms were shaking so bad I had to grip on to Austin's arms to still them. I looked up in to Austin's eyes, partially covered by his long, dark locks.

"It's more than that."

Austin's eye creased like he didn't understand what I was telling him.

"You shouldn't even know about these things…but this world isn't sunshine and rainbows. There are no rules or laws to protect us no more; we can only protect each other. I think you should know what it's all about."

Austin nodded his head and waited for me to proceed.

"It's about power and control, and about weakness and strength. Those that are weak take control of those who are strong to make themselves feel powerful…"

"But if they're weak, how can they get more power than you?"

"It's about strength in here." I said, placing a finger on his breast bone. "They don't have any of it, and they don't want you to have it either."

Austin nodded like he understood what I was saying, and then his eyes dropped back to his shoes, and he began scrapping them through the dirt, slowly, from side to side.

"I tried to protect him." He muttered to the ground. "I had to kill someone…His blood was warm." He held his hands up in front of his face and flexed them open and shut, as if the blood were still sticking to his hands.

I took his hands in mine to still them and gave them a squeeze.

"I'm sorry you had to do that…But you might have to do it again someday…'cause that's what we do to keep the people we care about safe."

Austin looked back to my eyes and nodded.

"I wasn't s'posed to tell you, Daryl didn't want me to."

"You did the right thing by tellin' me. I need to know when big things like that happen, so I can help Daryl handle it."

Now I just had to figure out how I was going to approach the rough and hardened redneck about it.

…

Austin had been keen to skin and clean the three rabbits we had caught, so I left him in the courtyard with his knife and a bucket, to do the dirty work. I went wandering through the school, looking for Daryl and the other kids, while trying to think of how or if I was going to bring up what Austin had told me.

The sound of giggles echoing off the walls drew me towards the art room.

I had expected him to be teaching them about how to hold a blade, or pull a grenade pin, or build a fire. Not art.

I had wanted himl to take the kids into the art room ever since he had done that angel wing painting on the gym doors. He had refused, saying he had no patience, but he must have run out of ways to keep the kids entertained during the day. The idea of Daryl teaching anything but survival made me grin from ear to ear.

The door to the room was wide open and I edged my way towards it and leant in on the frame, curious about the state I would find them all in. The kids were completely covered in paint, and were rubbing their hands all over pieces of paper on the art benches, while giggling and chatting to each other. Daryl was sitting in the front row, slightly hunched over as if he were holding on to something. I crept closer silently, not wanting to reveal myself, and felt a whole body flutter when I took in his appearance.

He had paint covering his hands and forearms, and a few war-paint like smudges over his cheek. Winnie was perched on his knee, covered in paint, with her tiny legs dangling by the side of his. She was smearing her hands over the paper in front of her, and Daryl was looking down on her with the most astonishingly beautiful, tranquil look on his face. It reminded me of the times he would nurse Judy. I was amazed at how a man, who was so rough, could look so natural with a child in his arms.

"You put a bit of dark under 'ere and it makes the eyes come out at ya." Daryl said to Winnie as he guided her thumb over the paper on the desk. It was a myriad of colours painted with smudges, swirls, splashes and spots. Somehow the composition of random pattern and colour made a completely recognisable image.

"Is that Merle?" I murmured, as I stepped in closer.

Daryl jumped a little at the sound of my voice, and stiffened when his eyes fell on me, as if he didn't want me to see this softer side of him. But I had seen it, and I liked it very much.

He cleared his throat and then turned back to the image. "Nah." He grunted.

Daryl paused with his hands on the work for a moment and then turned it a little towards me.

"It's my dad."

"I did some too." Winnie told me excitedly.

"So I see." I pulled the painting a little closer to look it over, and then turned back to Daryl, and then to Winnie's bright eyes, circled with flecks of paint.

"Why don't you go wash up?" I told her. "Get everyone else to go too."

Winnie slipped herself off Daryl's lap, and walked to the other kids demanding that they follow her to the bathroom. They bickered among themselves for a few moments, arguing that she couldn't tell them what to do, but I gave them a stern look, and they all filed out of the room obediently.

I turned back to Daryl when we were finally alone.

"Why was she helpin' you paint…_him_?"

Daryl gave his shoulders a shrug.

"An innocent set of hands. Thought she might help keep 'im from lookin' like a monster."

"…But he was a monster."

He shook his head.

"Nah, he was just a sick asshole. A sick asshole with an even sicker asshole for a dad."

"Why did you even paint him?" I asked as I pulled up a stool to sit by him. Daryl leaned back on his stool, and began rubbing his fingers through the hair on his chin, spreading paint around as he went.

"You 'member the night we…" He looked to the ceiling and chuckled lightly. "The night you wanted Cheetos?"

"Yeah."

"You were gonna paint 'em 'cause you forgot what they looked like."

"Did you forget what he looked like?"

Daryl looked back to the painting and began rubbing his fingers over the edges.

"No, I remember. Just he's not here no more. Somethin' like them Cheetos we never had."

He smirked and I forced a smile back at him.

"He's gone. He died out in the ass end of nowhere. He was never buried, we never had no funeral…but I wanna burn him. If you want somethin' to stay gone you gotta burn it, right?"

…

We waited until the children were all in bed to burn the painting of his dad. We took it out to the courtyard near where I scrubbed the clothes in the metal wash basket, and Daryl set light to a corner of the page while he held it at arm's length.

The flames licked along the edges, and crept along the face of the page, surging when they reached the paint. When the flames started edging towards his hands, Daryl tossed it into the wash basket and we both watched while his father's face turned black and folded in on itself and then crumbled away into ash.

After Daryl had tossed the ashes into the air, We did the perimeter check together, with our hands interlocked together. I could feel a relaxed air about Daryl. He seemed to carry himself taller, breath a little deeper, and his smile seemed to reach his eyes a little easier.

He seemed so at peace I almost didn't want to bring up what Austin had told me, but I was worried it would be another thing he would try to bury, and it would come back to hurt him later.

We continued pacing around listening to the sounds of the night, while I contemplated what I was going to say, and Daryl checked if there were any weaknesses in the fence. There never were. I couldn't imagine the fence failing us like it did at the prison, not unless someone was to drive a truck through it at high speed. This place really was the best place we had ever found to live; it felt almost criminal to leave it.

"This fence is real secure." I told Daryl, while he was kicking his boot into one of the iron tubes.

"It is." He replied without looking at me.

"And this place is so quiet."

Daryl was still for a moment, taking in the noise of the night. Frogs, cicadas…but no walker growls.

"Yeah." His eyes finally rested on mine.

"It seems such a pity to leave it."

Daryl let out a long sigh, puffing a cloud of mist in to the cool night air.

"I know. But it don't have to be forever."

I dropped my eyes and Daryl gave my hand a re-assuring squeeze. "We can come back with the others. It's just too much for this two man ─plus toddlers─ army."

He put his finger to my chin and lifted my face so our eyes could meet.

"The more people we take in the stronger we are, and all that shit."

We both chuckled remembering it as something the termites had said.

"We gonna start eatin' people now?" I teased.

"Nah. But you know what I mean."

I did know what he meant. We had done fine so far here at the school, but there was always that chance something could go wrong. Just like when those men attacked Daryl. We couldn't take the risk of being alone if people like that, or like the governor ever came to the school.

I squeezed his hand, and then tugged him along so we could complete our checks and get upstairs where it was warmer.

Once upstairs and in the warmth of the office, Daryl slipped out of his vest and shirt and dropped them on to the floor, he toed out of his boots and then made his way over to the window. He slipped a finger between the blind and peered out into the moonlit darkness.

"What're you lookin' for?" I asked him while I finished undressing, myself.

"Just checkin'. Always felt wrong not havin' no-one on watch."

"Mix has done a pretty good job so far. We've never had any trouble but a handful of walkers."

Daryl let out a sigh as his shoulders rose in tension.

"You and I both know there's worse out there than walkers, and bricks, mortar and iron ain't gonna hold 'em back."

Much worse. Like the people he had most recently encountered. Resolved there was no better time than now, I pulled my sleeping sweater over my head and made my way over to him by the window.

The lamp light shone over his broad shoulders and the muscles on his back, highlighting the pattern of scars that stretched over his skin, and it momentarily distracted me, like a light beam glimmering on a surface might a kitten.

I pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder, and let my lips linger against his skin as I trailed my fingers carefully over the ridges on his back. He stilled under my touch, but he didn't tense as he so often had in the past. I had known about the scars for a long time, and I had known who put them there. But it tugged on my heart just a little harder, to know that he had suffered so long in silence. He had developed such a tough outer shell in an effort to deal with all the pain on his own. He had been alone for so long.

"Austin told me what happened…in the garage…with those men." I murmured into his shoulder.

Daryl turned to me, with a face free from expression.

I put my palms to his cheeks and held his face still, knowing he would more than likely pull away when he realised how much I knew.

"You don't need to say anythin' 'cause I already know how you're feelin'… But if you do wanna talk, I'll listen. If you wanna cry…" I nodded towards my shoulder. "There's a spot here with your name on it. And if you want me to hold you, I won't let you go 'til…"

"Beth." Daryl interrupted me with a surprising softness in his voice. He flashed me an unexpected smile, and dropped warm hands on to my shoulders. "Nothin' happened."

"Nothin'?"

"No. They fucked with my head. But I weren't gonna let 'em fuck with anythin' else…not without puttin' up a decent fight. Never coulda looked at myself again I don't think… I ain't strong like you."

I hadn't even realised how tight I had been holding my body, until I breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. It was silly of me to think anyone could do _that_ to Daryl Dixon. Then the tensions suddenly crept through me again as a realisation dawned on me. It was what I had said to Austin about the weak taking power from others

"Is that why you did it to me? Or mighta done it to me? Were you tryin' to take some of my strength?"

"No!" He declared passionately, while giving my shoulders a firm squeeze. "I was just feelin' real shitty, and I thought bein' with you would make me feel better…but it didn't."

He wasn't the only one in this relationship to think that sex alone could cure what ails you.

"It was silly for me to think that dressin' up and doin' all that stuff with you would make you feel any better."

A playful grin pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"That sure didn't make me feel any worse." He said with a quirk of his brow.

"But the smacking did. That was _really_ stupid."

"Yeah, don't think I'll ever be a fan of S and M." A teasing smile appeared and then left almost instantly as he dropped his eyes from mine. "I know I hurt you too…in the bathroom."

"It's okay. It didn't hurt too much."

He looked back to my face and all humour was gone from his expression.

"It shouldna hurt at all."

He began to run his hands carefully over my shoulders, barely brushing his skin against mine.

"I never wanna hurt you again."

He dipped his head and replaced the gentle touching on my shoulder with a kiss.

"I'm never gonna fuck you again neither."

"What?" I cried, as I stepped away from him feeling a little stunned.

He smirked at me and then pulled me in against his chest and began running his hands up and down my back.

"From now on, I don't fuck. I make love."

I chuckled softly with relief, and began stroking my hands over his bare back using the same motion and pressure as he was using on me.

"Do you think you know how to now?"

I only caught a glimpse of his smile before he moved his lips back to my shoulder, and began trailing light wet kisses to my neck, and upwards. His lips stopped on my ear.

"We can find out." I shuddered as his hot breath caressed the sensitive spot behind my ear, and I closed my eyes and found myself involuntarily arching my neck to allow him better access.

I heard his breath catch and opened my eyes to see he was staring at my throat. I knew there were still purple marks left behind from when he had pressed his thumbs into me.

"Don't worry about it." I urged him on. "Just keep bein' real gentle like you were."

He hesitated for just a moment before brushing his lips over the column of my throat and continuing to run wet kisses over my neck. His hands moved from my back downwards until they reached my thighs, and then he slipped them under my sweater, and began kneading his fingers into the bare skin of my backside, and then to the curve in my back.

I clutched on to the firm muscles of his shoulders feeling the chill of cold air touch my skin as he lifted my sweater.

I helped him tug it over my head, and drop it to the floor.

I stood before him topless as he ran the back of his fingers over my bare shoulders and arms, down to my wrists, then across my belly and up to my breasts. I shuddered as the tingling sensation his touch left behind, turned my skin to gooseflesh, and my bare nipples drew tight into little stones.

I was hyper aware of his shadowed eyes scanning over my body and taking in every inch of uncovered skin. His eyes halted when they met my gaze and he drew in a raspy and ragged breath.

"I love you, Beth." The words rolled of his tongue and loomed in the air, heavy with intent. I couldn't even smile; I was so overcome with emotion.

His warm and strong hands found a place on my waist, and he guided me towards him so that my aroused nipples dug into the heated flesh of his chest. His lips found mine and his kiss was tentatively careful and lustily forceful all at once.

A soft groan escaped my mouth as I reciprocated, tangling my lips and tongue with his, and tangling my finger into his short locks, so I could pull his mouth against mine.

His lips slipped downward and brushed over my chin as his hands caught me under the backside. With a gentle force, he lifted me upwards so my thighs clung to his hips, and I could feel him growing hard under his jeans and pressing into my sodden underpants.

He slid me upwards, and I gripped on to him tightly, wrapping my legs around his back, and my arms over his broad shoulders, while I pressing my face into his neck. I felt his body swagger and sway, and I turned away from the overwhelming heat and scent of his skin to see we were retreating from the window side and moving towards our bed.

His knee lifted below me and pressed against the place of growing heat between my legs, before he tilted me back and lowered me carefully on to the cool leather of the sofa.

I arched my back and sighed at the sudden chill, and he chuckled lightly at my reaction. He straddled over me and shifted me along the sofa, using one strong arm, until my body was fully supported by the seat of the sofa.

His lips found mine again, but I barely had a chance to flick my tongue against his before he had moved and began trailing wet kisses from my chin, to throat, to collar, to chest, to naval and lower.

His fingers pulled at the band of my underpants and I lifted my hips, allowing him to slip them off and he dropped them to the floor.

His eyes turned up to mine as his head dropped between my legs and I felt the gentle warm push of his tongue against my sweet spot. I groaned, clenched my eyes closed, arched my back and dropped my knees to the side inviting him to continue. His heat left me and was replaced by the cool chill of air as I felt him shifting around against my bare legs.

I opened my eyes to find he was now standing off the sofa and tugging his jeans down. He ducked down for a few moments and I could hear fabric shifting and plastic crinkling and then he re-emerged with a small square package between his teeth.

He tore it open, slipped out the rubber disk, and rolled it down over his engorged shaft. He crawled back over me and lowered himself down so the full length of his body was pressed against mine, and his shaft was pressed between my legs.

He put his forehead to mine, and brushed a finger over my chin.

"This is how I woulda liked our first time to be… if I knew how to do it then." His breath was hot against my lips, and I tilted my chin upwards just a little so our lips could touch.

My hands moved to his back, and I felt the muscles contort as he lifted his hips guiding his end to my opening.

We both groaned as he slid his way through me ─slowly─ allowing my body to adjust to his girth. My fingers found their way in to the ridges on his back and it took all my focus to be as gentle with my touches as he was being with his.

I closed my eyes and let my mind dwell on the multitude of sensations my body was experiencing all at once. His hot breath and soft groans that puffed against my neck. The heat and pressure from his calloused fingers that pressed into my back. The way the muscles of his lower back bulged and flattened under my hands as his hips bucked between my thighs. And the ceaseless pattern of infusion and withdrawal as he built up something hot and tight and fierce within me.

When my peak had been reached I tossed my head back, squealed into the air, and dug into his back, forgetting all about being gentle. I rode the wave of ecstasy as he continued to delve into me, extending the throbbing sensation with every thrust.

"I love you." He muttered again in a voice that was grainy and strained.

"I love you too." I half cried and half moaned, as I wrapped my legs around his waist, and writhed my body against his.

The slow and deliberate onslaught on my body continued on as wave after wave of orgasm clouded my mind, and loosened my body until I was a pile of quivering, witless Jell-O.

He let out his usual groan that told me he had come undone, and filled me with the final thrusts that were rougher than they had been before, as he tugged down firmly on my shoulders.

We lay in a bundle of twisted, sweaty, trembling limbs. Our chests moved in unison as our breaths grew longer and shallower, until there was so little movement between us, you couldn't tell where he ended and I began.

He was so still I thought he might have fallen asleep, until he lifted his head and took my lips in his.

"How'd I do?" He murmured as he pressed his forehead to mine.

"Perfect."

He chuckled and then kissed me again.

"Did it make you feel better that time?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. It was the lovin' not the sex."

"I think I've got somethin' else to make you feel better."

"There ain't nothin' that could make me feel better than I do right now, Greene."

I squirmed around underneath him until he got the hint, and rolled off. Then I rolled to my front and climbed my way off the sofa and to the guitar I always kept close at hand.

"Another song?" Daryl kept his eyes down and on task as he tugged away the condom full of white liquid, tied it up and tossed it to the ground in a carefree manner.

"You sick of my singing yet?"

"No. Never."

I perched in my usual spot on the arm of the sofa and put the body of the guitar to my lap. Daryl crawled forward on his front, wrapped an arm around my hips and put head on the sofa arm beside me, watching me with a restful smile on his lips.

_Oh I wish I was a doctor who could heal your broken heart  
Analyse each bruise and hear your story from the start  
And stitch up every tiny tear  
With a ribbon and a bow_

_Prescribe you some new medicine  
That makes you feel less alone_

_No I am not a doctor_  
_Just an ordinary girl_  
_But I know the way your chest aches_  
_The way your head swirls_

_when abandoned beat and broken down_  
_By the one who knew you best_  
_I was sleeping when I cut my veins_

If I only knew my life was blessed**_  
_**_  
No I am not a doctor  
But I've got some extra time  
I've got some drugs  
I keep in stock called _Mary and moonshine  
_  
We both know that you're not gonna sleep tonight_

_I am not a doctor_  
_But maybe you could let me try_  
_So I put my hand against your head_  
_I recommend that you stay in bed_

_Your temperature is getting pretty high_  
_Well I'll help you get undressed_

_and mess around tonight_

"Beth." His tone had an authoritative finality to it that threw me a little of guard.

"Yeah?" I muttered, wondering if I had said something wrong in my lyrics.

"Why do all your songs gotta be so sexy?"

I chuckled, relieved that it was the sexiness that had caught his attention. I gave my shoulders a gentle shrug in reply.

"Heck." He grabbed the guitar by the neck and placed it on the ground. "Looks like I ain't gonna be sleepin' tonight."

**AN: RE the 'I miss my brother' comment from last chapter. He didn't only miss Rick as a friend and family member, but as a leader. Daryl already expressed he didn't want to lead (remember lord of the flies remark), plus he was shaken up by his run in and felt like he needed back-up. I made the mistake of just assuming you all knew what I meant. I will go back and edit that part to make it more explicit. I also dropped a few more hints in this chapter, and will continue to build on it. I'm not so great on the introspect stuff, so maybe that's why it was missed before.**

**Thanks for the feedback everyone :) **

**The chapters are going to get shorter from here on in, as I'm pretty anxious to get them to 'where they belong'...  
**

**I'm also slowly working on another Bethyl piece. I'm going to try out the whole fluffy, slow burn, teen rated thing. Keep an eye out for it.**


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